WHAT MAY BE LEARNED 



A TR 



HARLAND COULTAS, 

AUTHOR OV " ORGANIC LIFE THE SAME I\ ANIMALS AS IN PLANTS," ETC., ETO, 



" And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing." 

Shakspeare. 



• 



NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 

448 AND 445 BROADWAY. 

LONDON: LITTLE BRITAIN. 

1860. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in tbe year 185S, 

BY HARLAND C0ULTA8, 

In the Clerk's Office of tbe District Court for the Eautern District of Pennsylvania. 



.K^^ 

^^.>^\ 
^%^ 



/ 



S-/^3 






V 

^ 



RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 



ALL LOVERS AND FRIENDS OF NATURE. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction, i^ 

CHAPTER I. 

The building-up of the Tree-form out of its unit; or, the Life of the 
Tree traced throughout its vegetative period from infancy to puberty, 13 

CHAPTER II. 

The History of the development of Trees may be advantageously 
studied by a careful examination of the marks left by Nature on 
their young branches — The growths made by the Tree during the 
former years of its life, having been there accurately recorded, . 26 

CHAPTER III. 

The inner organization of Trees ; or a description of the Anatomy and 
Physiology of the different species of Cells which enter into the 
composition of their tissues, ........ 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Tree is constructed on the principle of a cone — Its leaves are the 
sources whence proceed the formative material used in the building- 
up of its Stem and Branches, which is distributed amongst them 
after a common law, ......... 57 

CHAPTER V. 

Those natural Causes which produce the inequality in the Develop- 
ment of the Branches and Buds of a Tree, illustrate clearly the laws 
of social inequality and subordination in civilized communities, . 67 

CHAPTER VI. 

The rhythms or oscillations of Growth in the Development of Trees 
are durably impressed on their Organism, and the Organization of 
Man is equally as susceptible of receiving and retaining impression? 
from without, 91 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

PAQE 

The Leaf, with the entire edge, is alone to be regarded as a simple 
Leaf — The Leaf takes a higher form of Organization, and becomes 
compound in proportion to the Development of the fibrous portion 
of its Lamina — All the irregularities of its margin, such as Lobes, 
Teeth, Crenatures, Serratures, result from an effort at new leaflet- 
formation arrested in its first stages, 107 

CHAPTER VIIL 

A sketch of the History of Creation as recorded in the strata of the 
Earth, showing that the Trees which now cover its surface were not 
all created at the same time, but were introduced as the Earth be- 
came fitted for their reception — Trees were created in succession — • 
Those of a low type of Organization are the most ancient inhabi- 
tants of the Globe — The more highly organized Trees have been in- 
troduced at a, comparatively speaking, modern Geological epoch, . 131 

CHAPTER IX. 

Change which takes place in the constitution of Trees at the period of 
puberty — Organic Metamorphosi3 of their Leaves into Flowers and 
Fruit, and relative physiological rank of the Floral organs, . . 152 

CHAPTER X. 

Contains a Description of Trees remarkable for their gigantic growth 
and great age, found in different parts of the World, . . .109 

CHAPTER XL 

The Woods take the first rank in the communities of the Vegetable 
Kingdom — Reciprocity of action amongst Plants — A cool Atmo- 
sphere produced by Woods — Their removal is followed by a warmer, 
drier Climate, and is beneficial in some cases — Woods on Mountains 
must not be cut down — Pernicious results of their removal in Italy — 
Woods useful along the Sea-shore, where the coast is low and sandy 
— Concluding remarks, . . . . . . . .176 

CHAPTER XIL 

The Death of the Tree is founded on an inner law of its organism, 
and is not the result of accidental causes, . . . . . 1 85 



INTRODUCTION. 



Change is the soul of nature. Stars appear and disap- 
pear, aud new ones come in their stead. The day gives 
its pLace to the night, and the night to the day. The 
moon is ever changing her aspect as she moves round the 
earth. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter follow each 
other in succession, and with this gradual change of the 
seasons, the earth is continually changing its plant-cover- 
ing. J^ature is ever moving onward, and mutability 
marks all these forward movements. The vegetable 
world is ever adapting itself to the ever-varying condi- 
tions of moisture, heat, and light, which mark the days 
and years of the earth's pilgrimage. One flower, for ex- 
ample, is seen to open as soon as the first rays of morning 
tremble on the horizon, another in the morning sun, a 
third at mid-day, a fourth in the evening, and a fifth at 
midnight. The animal world, too, strikes as it were the 
hours. Scarcely do the dew-drops glitter in the beams of 
the advancing sun, than the earth-worms come to the 
surface to enjoy themselves, the birds commence their 
song, the sun rises higher and the woods reverberate with 
their ever-varied melodies. "But the sun sinks in the west 
and night hides from our view the glory and beauty of 
nature ; and the nightingale warbles, the owl screams, the 
bat flies abroad, and an innumerable variety of beautiful 
moths sport themselves in the gloom. So appear and dis- 



10 INTKODUCTION. 

appear successive generations of plants, animals, and 
men. 

We have felt, for many years, interested in the plant- 
world, that beautiful and ever-variegated carpet with 
which IS'ature has overspread the earth, and which is ever 
changing its character as the seasons roll on. We have 
also printed several elementary works on Botany, and 
this time have chosen for our subject, a Tree ; because it 
is a picture of the whole of J^ature, and of the way in 
which Nature works. 

It is quite evident that each part of a tree, whether it be 
leaf-scale, or leaf, sepal or petal, has its place assigned 
and task allotted in the construction of its organism; 
and that there is a system of mutual dependency and 
subordination which pervades all the parts of the tree 
from the cell upwards. Now this variety, and at the 
same time unity of organic action, so apparent in all the 
life-phenomena of a tree, and in all the mutations of its 
form is exceedingly instructive, for it throws light not only 
on the natural laws which govern society, but on the whole 
of organized Nature. 

Nature is a mechanism whose parts are intimately as- 
sociated with each other. The forest leaf, for example, 
has infinite connections not only with the tree which it 
helps to build, but with the atmosphere which it oxj^ge- 
nates, and with the raindrop which it absorbs and decom- 
poses. And it is the same with every insect, moss, and 
mountain floweret. Each has its place assigned in the 
organism of the universe, and its allotted labors to per- 
form. All take their part in effecting those grand 
changes now taking place in nature ; and which are un- 
doubtedly conducted on a plan devised by infinite intelli- 
gence and wisdom, and therefore perfect in all its parts, 
harmonious in all its arrangements. 

In like manner that part of Nature called civilized so- 
ciety, notwithstanding all the evils with which it is neces- 
sarily accompanied, is equally a mechanism, and governed 
by natural law. It is my design in this work to try to 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

exhibit this fact in its true light. Men have formed their 
Utopia. They have closed their eyes on the existence of 
natural evil ; they have denied that it is an inevitable ne- 
cessity, and inseparable from the present condition of 
things ; they have sought to make the world otherwise 
than God has made it. They have promulgated erro- 
neous schemes of philanthropy, which, having no foun- 
dation whatever, either in truth or reason, can never do 
otherwise than mislead and betray. They would over- 
turn the granite foundations of the present social fabric. 
Vain and futile attempt ! 

It is time that we looked these evils fairly in the face. 
It is time that we admitted their existence as an inevitable 
necessity, as part of the discipline of life ; that we re- 
garded those grand compensatory forces which are ever 
at work in the realms of Kature, and by means of which 
these conflicting elements are made to harmonize, and a 
just equilibrium brought about in the scale of human 
happiness. * When will man learn wisdom and truth 
from the teachings of ISTature ? "When will he open his 
eyes to those important practical lessons Vhich may be 
learned from the commonest object? It is my inten- 
tion, in this book, to show " What may be learned from 
a Tree." 

We are about to write its life^history. We shall trace it 
from the first manifestations of vitality in the germinating 
seed until the period of puberty, when it puts forth flowers 
and fruit. We shall consider its phenomena after it has 
passed its prime, and show that it has its appointed limits in 
consequence of the same physiological law which governs 
the development of its organism, equally with that of the 
lowly plant which grows beneath its shade. We shall show 
that the tree may be regarded as a vast community of phy- 
tons, or plants, which co-operate in its construction and are 
mutually dependent on and subservient to each other We 
shall prove the individuality of these phytons which devel- 
ope about the axophyte or stem of the tree and its ramifica- 
tions or branches, by their difiference of form and function, 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

and also by those separate periods of time at which they 
arrive at a state of maturity and decay. We shall show 
that the amount of work done by these phytons, in their 
individual and collective capacity, constitutes the growth 
of each year, and has been recorded in the wood of its stem 
and on the outer surface of its bark. But all the parts of 
organic nature are so intimately connected with each other, 
that the careful stud}^ of any one part necessarily leads as 
a reward to correct ideas respecting the whole. This is 
particularly the case with the tree, which is a microcosm, 
or little world, beautifully illustrative of those unchanging 
laws of individual and social development which lie at the 
foundation of the present social system. 

My own experience has taught me that a work of this 
nature is likely to be very useful. It is emphatically 
written for the people — for those who feel life to be one 
continued struggle for existence. Many of the truths 
which will be illustrated are stern and incontrovertible 
realities, confirmed by the daily and hourly experience of 
life. Of all the author's botanical works, this is perhaps 
the only one that will survive him. One thing is certain, 
that it will be more generally understood. The reader of 
only ordinary education and intellectual power may readily 
comprehend the principles inculcated in this book, and 
see their applicability as guiding rules for the judicious 
and happy management of each day's duties. Eeader, 
whoever you are, may this book prove to you a friend, 
may you be induced by its pages to look on the Tree with 
a new interest ; and obtaining from its noble form a clear 
and truthful view of your own position and duty in life, 
become by the perusal of this volume, a wiser man and a 
better citizen. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BUILDING UP OP THE TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT; OR, THE 
LIFE OF THE TREE TRACED THROUGHOUT ITS VEGETATIVE PERIOD 
—FROM INFANCY TO PUBERTY. 

'^ TREE is indisputably the most highly-developed form 
which vegetable life assumes. In the appearance of one 
that has stood for centuries, there is something noble and 
majestic. When we look at its now massive stem and far- 
extended branches, and then call to mind its smallness and 
feebleness at the commencement of its life ; when we re- 
member that this great tree was once so small as to be in- 
closed within a little seed, and that the tons of solid timber 
which it contains have been all drawn by that seed from 
the earth and atmosphere, we cannot but feel that we have 
before us a most impressive proof of the operations of the 
attractive forces. What an immense amount of vitally 
f organized material has been here gathered together ! It 
is God's own architecture ! This mass of vegetable matter 
is only earth and air which has undergone transmutation ! 
The material alike of wandering zephyrs and rushing 
storms, of gently descending night-dews and angry thun- 
der-showers, has been here, on this spot, metamorphosed ! 

Yet we pass these great and wonderful works of Provi- 
dence every day of our lives without a thought. The 
gradual and silent building-up of a tree excites no curiosity, 
conveys no moral lesson. What may be learned from a 
tree ? Clear and conjprehensive views of the organization 
and laws which govern the civilized world ! Rules of con- 
duct which lie at the foundation of all success in business, 
all progress in the pathway to pre-eminence. It is the aim 



14 THE BUILDING TIP OF THE 

of this book to establisli this fact by a direct appeal to 
nature and experience. And first of all we will give a 
brief sketch of the life-history of a tree from infancy to 
puberty, or from the commencement of germination till 
the period when the tree reaches its maximum height, and 
puts forth its flowers and fruit. By so doing, we shall be 
able to show the principles on which trees are constructed, 
and the reader will form for himself a correct idea or in- 
tellectual picture of a tree. As this is all-important to a 
thorough understanding of the principles inculcated in 
this book, we earnestly request that the purely botanical 
portion of it may have a most careful and attentive peru- 
sal. 

The First Tears Crroivtli. — ^-If we plant a beech-nut in a 
suitable soil, when spring and warm weather come it will 
begin to terminate. It first attracts the moisture of the 
soil itself This produces the softening and swelling of 
the tough covering of the nut, which is finally ruptured 
by the growth of the embryo or infant beech-tree in its 
interior, which sends downward, through the lacerated in- 
tegument or seed-cover, a young rootlet, and upwards a 
young stem, to which are attached the first pair of leaves. 
These leaves, which are thick and fleshy, and constituted 
the great bulk of the seed, are in reality the nursing-leaves 
of the young embryo. Lifted above the ground and ex- 
posed to the light of the sun, they speedily expand, take 
a leaflike texture and hue, and become so much enlarged 
that they present quite a dift'erent appearance to that 
which they exhibited when they were folded together and 
enveloped by the seed-skin. 

I call them nursing-leaves {folia nutrientia), because 
these words convey a more correct idea of the services which 
they render the plant, and are therefore better than the 
word cotyledons, or seed-leaves, terms employed by other 
writers. These nursing-leaves are only temporary appen- 
dages of the axis or stem, and perform a distinct and sepa- 
rate duty iu connection with the building-up of the tree. 



TREE FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 15 

They contain a store of starch, provisions elaborated by 
the plant which produced the seed. On this store of starch 
the young embryo or infant beech, with its little root and 
stem, bearing toward its summit the first phyton, or true 
aerial leaf, is wholly parasitic until it is sufficiently grown 
to draw a sufficient amount of sustenance from the earth 
and atmosphere, and can do without the nursing-leaves. 

The polar opposition between root and stem, which is 
among the first indications of the commencement of active 
vitality in the young embryo, is wholly inexplicable, and 
continues throughout the entire life of the tree. During the 
first stages of its life, oxygen is absorbed from the air by the 
nursing-leaves of the growing embryo, and through its in- 
fluence the starch contained in them is transmuted into a 
soluble sugary gum called dextrine, which is conveyed, by 
the water absorbed during the germination, to the young 
rootlet and to the gemmule, and also to the first true 
aerial leaf, or phyton. Thus nourished, this leaf speedily 
expands, takes the form peculiar to the plant, and remains 
permanently attached to them till the close of the grow- 
ing season. It is otherwise with the nursing-leaves : for 
having yielded up their store of nutrient material to the 
first true aerial leaf, and given it the necessary degree of 
strength to enable it to support itself, they become gradu- 
ally atrophied, or waste away and shrivel up, and we see 
them finally fall from the stem. With the full develop- 
ment of the first true aerial leaf, and the atrophy and ulti- 
mate fall of the nursing-leaves, the first stage of vegetative 
life is closed. 

"We have now a simple individual plant, or vegetable 
unit, consisting of root, stem, and leaf, having subterranean 
and aerial organs beautifully adapted to its nutrition; it is, 
therefore, perfect in all its parts. And now, the fully-de- 
veloped tree, with its massive stem, branches, and roots, 
its noble canopy of foliage and flowers, stands before us in 
its simplest form. For the first true aerial leaf is the 
foundation of the vegetable fabric, the parent of those 



16 THE BUILDING UP OF THE 

countless numbers of leaves which are developed through 
succeeding years, and by whose united labors a goodly 
tree is at last constructed, capable of withstanding the 
storms of the atmosphere, as the submarine structures 
reared by the coral insect resist the surges of the ocean. 

It is therefore important to study carefully the organi- 
zation and life-processes of the first true aerial leaf, or 
vegetable unit ; for as its simple repetition constitutes the 
growth of the first year — which again must be regarded as 
a vegetable unit of a somewhat higher, more complex cha- 
racter, by simple repetition of which the entire tree itself 
is ultimately produced ; so it is plain that a thorough know- 
ledge of the physiology and organization of this first true 
aerial leaf must furnish a key not only to the growth of 
the first year, but of succeeding years, of which the tree is 
the solid and enduring monument. 

Nothing is apparently more insignificant and feeble than 
our beech-tree at this period of its life. Look at the young, 
delicate leaf and stem of the phyton, or first plant, which 
does not even raise above the green blades of grass by 
which it is surrounded, thrown as it were on the charity 
of Nature ! It has lost its nursing-leaves and is left to pro- 
vide for itself, surrounded by innumerable dangers. It is 
at first a struggle for life against fearful odds. It may be 
eaten by cattle, or be crushed by a careless footstep ; want 
of rain or too much moisture in the soil, excessively hot or 
severely cold weather, may permanently injure its structure 
and bring its life to an early and premature close. 

But if the seed was planted in a good soil, and the con- 
ditions continue favorable, an impulsive energy will very 
soon be called forth which shall carry it over every obstacle. 
Yea, verily, it shall extract nutriment from the very tem- 
pest which would hurl it to destruction, and render its 
enemy subservient to the advancement of its upward and 
onward progress. 

See how beautifully Providence has adapted the organi- 
zation of the two extremities of the phyton, or first plant, 



TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 17 

to the earth and atmosphere, the two sources from whence it 
must for the future draw its supplies of food. Its little root 
descends into the soil, and puts forth from its surface a 
number of fine, white, hairlike fibres, which are the instru- 
ments by means of which the plants absorb inwardly the 
subterranean nutrient material which surrounds them ; its 
young stem ascends into the air, and the bark and fibre, 
which are arranged cylindrically in separate beds or layers 
in the stem, are spread out horizontally towards its summit, 
in the form of a flat green plate, or absorbent surface, 
called a leaf. 

The bark, or cellular tissue of this leaf is penetrated by 
the fibrous portion of the stem, in the shape of veins and 
veinlets, which communicate freely with the roots in the 
soil, and thus act as conduits of the sap or nutritive mate- 
rial from one extremity of the plant to the other. In this 
manner the sap, brought from all parts of the plant, be- 
comes, as it were, thoroughly spread out and aerated in the 
leaf. To facilitate the processes of evaporation and absorp- 
tion, the leaf is provided with an epidermis, through the 
pores or openings of which the superfluous water of the sap 
is evaporated, and such gases absorbed from the atmosphere 
as are nutritious to the plant. 

Hence, when fully developed, this leaf aerates the sap 
much more perfectly than the nursing-leaves ; and as it is 
a true aerial leaf, it remains permanently attached to the 
stem or vegetable axis till the close of the vegetative sea- 
son. This leaf appears, in fact, to be formed in reference 
to the atmosphere. 

If we examine the gemmule, or young bud, situated just 
above the phyton, or first leaf, we shall find that the first 
leaf itself is now, in its turn, a nursing-leaf, and the parent 
of a numerous progeny of already partially-formed follicles. 
These, nourished by the sap elaborated in the first leaf, soon 
individually expand and separate from each other, little in- 
tervals of stem being formed between them. They now 
contribute individually to each other's support : the lower 
leaves aiding in the development of those that are above 

2 



18 THE BUILDING UP OF THE 

them, and contributing also to the growth of that portion 
of the axis or stem which is beneath them, and to the in- 
crease of the number of the rootlets in the soil. 

Each of these phytons or leaves developes also, more or 
less perfectly, its own gemmule or young bud, which, un- 
doubtedly, corresponds to the gemmule or bud formed by 
the first leaf, the unfolding of which constitutes the growth 
of the first season. But these new buds never come to any- 
thing the first year, but retain their rudimentary condition 
through the winter months, and appear as projecting points 
on the outside of the shoot, after the leaves which formed 
them have dropped from the stem. The gemmule or bud 
formed by the first leaf, is the only one of the series which 
developes the first season. 

As the heat and light of the sun decrease, the vital acti- 
vity of the phytons or leaves diminishes, and the intervals 
between them gradually cease to form, until at length the 
elongation of the axis is wholly stopped. About this time 
the current of sap is diverted away from the leaves to the 
buds forming at the bottom of each leaf-stalk, and especial- 
ly to the terminal bud which grows at the top of the shoot. 
This attraction of the sap or formative material away from 
the leaves by the newly-forming tissues of the buds, is un- 
doubtedly one of the principal causes which produce their 
decay and separation from the shoot. When the leaves 
begin to change their color (the sure presage of their ap- 
proaching fall), it is therefore an infallible indication . that 
the sap is being diverted away from them to the buds, 
which have begun to grow, and that the shoot constructed 
by their united labors is about to be prepared for winter. 

This preparation of the shopt for winter is effected by 
the development of another set of leaves, which other 
writers call bud-scales, but which I call [folia tegmentia) 
covering or protecting leaves. It is not nutrition, but pro- 
tection which is required by the shoot during winter, and 
these leaves are organized expressly for this very purpose. 
They contribute nothing whatever to the support of the plant, 
but they shield it from the inclemency of the weather. It is 



TREE-FORM OUT OP ITS UNIT. 19 

their duty to preserve from injury the amount of work ah-eacly 
done. A beautiful vegetable cone has been constructed by 
the leaf-labor of the first year, and it is left in their charge. 

In the beech-tree, the bud-scales or covering leaves 
acquire a somewhat horny texture. They are without 
pores, and are, in botanical language, imbricated ; that is 
to say, they cover one another like the shingles on the roof 
of a house. Beneath these vegetable roofs, thus admirably 
constructed, the young branch charged with all the nutri- 
tive leaves of the next vegetative season lies imbedded in 
a warm downy investment. 

Thus, even the defoliated shoot or vegetable cone is not 
without its attractions. There it stands, exposed to the 
fierce north wind, coated with ice from top to bottom. 
It matters not that the snow-covered ground, in which its 
roots lie imbedded, is frozen as hard as granite, for there 
are the protective leaves, or bud-scales. These are the ap- 
pointed guardians of its life, and well do they perform their 
ofiice. As soon as spring and warm weather come, do we 
not see the young shoots and the bright green leaves, which 
they have covered and protected, come forth uninjured? 
Exposure to the air, which is now mild and pleasant, will 
do the newly-developed shoots and leaves no harm, but is 
a positive benefit. The services of the covering or pro- 
tective leaves of winter are therefore no longer required, 
and we see them fall, one by one from the stem. Why ? 
Because they have fulfilled the purposes of Providence in 
their creation. They are, therefore, removed from the post 
of duty. 

The Second Years Grrowth. — ^With the gradual increase of 
light and heat the snow and ice disappears, the ground be- 
comes soft and friable, the air mild and pleasant, and in the 
grand laboratory of organic nature all is again ceaseless 
activity. The same beautiful yet evanescent floral forms 
adorn the earth ; the bright green grass, the leafy verdure 
of the woods charm the senses. Our vegetable cone with 
its lateral and terminal buds feels the effect of the genial 
influences that are abroad, and soon give signs of a renewed 



20 THE BUILDING UP OF THE 

vitality. The [folia tegmentia) covering-leaves separate 
from each other, and the new generation of nutritive leaves, 
sheltered by them through the winter months, are put 
forth uninjured into the atmosphere. The leaves proceed- 
ing from the bud at the summit of the vegetable cone, 
continue the growth of the main axis or stem, whilst those 
developed from the lateral buds give birth to branches. If 
now these new growths be carefully examined, it will be 
found that the new generation of leaves has constructed 
them on precisely the same plan as the first year's shoot. 
For these branches, and the addition which has been made 
to the stem in height, consist of precisely the same parts, 
viz. : a conical axis and leaves with buds in their axilla, 
and a terminal bud at the apex. Each new axis or shoot 
which has been superadded to the first year's shoot, must 
therefore be regarded as a simple repetition of the first 
year's shoot. 

It is also plain that the branches are to the main axis or 
stem, the second year, what the leaves were to it the first 
year, performing precisely the same functions, only in a far 
more energetic manner ; because in this case it is not one but 
several leaves which are engaged in elaborating the sap, 
which, when duly prepared in the leaves, passes from them 
into the main axis or stem of the tree through the common 
axis of the shoot, and thus contributes to its nutrition. 

The tree has therefore a much greater amount of leaf-sur- 
face at work in the air the second year than it had the first, 
and its chances of life are consequently multiplied a thou- 
sand fold. For with ever}' addition to the number of its 
leaves, the tree obtains a new instrument for extracting 
nutriment from the atmosphere, and elaborating such food 
as it attracts to itself from the soil. The amount of wood 
and bark formed is therefore much greater the second year 
than the first ; it is, in fact, exactly proportionate to the 
increase in the extent of leaf-surface and the vital activity 
of the leaves themselves. 

The sap having been exposed to the air and light in these 
additional leaf-surfaces, is again rendered nutritious, and 



TREE-FORM OUT OF ITS UNIT, 21 

not only contributes to the elongation of the stem and 
branches, but at the same time to the formation of a new 
conical layer, or enveloping mantle of wood and bark be- 
tween the wood and bark of the previous year. Each shoot, 
with its system of leaves, contributes its part to the newly- 
formed layer, and the growth of the stem, in length and 
thickness, thus takes place at the same time. 

Toward the close of the growing season, the sap is again 
diverted from the leaves to the buds forming in their axilla ; 
and the protective leaves of winter having been fully ma- 
tured, the second generation of nutritive leaves wither and 
fall from the stem and branches as before. Our tree, when 
defoliated, now shows a number of shoots associated toge- 
ther, and developing from a common axis or stem, all of 
which have been built up by leaves constructed on pre- 
cisely the same pattern as the first year's shoot, and pre- 
pared for winter in exactly the same manner. 

The Third Year the tree presents the same general vege- 
tative appearances. The terminal bud continues the growth 
of the stem or main axis as before, the buds on the branches 
develope into branchlets, and contribute to the further ex- 
tension of the branches and to the growth of the shoots 
forming at their summit ; and the whole system of shoots 
thus put forth, with their leaves, co-operate in the forma- 
tion of the sap into another enveloping mantle of bark 
and wood, which covers the stem and branches of the pre- 
vious year. 

In precisely the same manner does the tree continue to 
vegetate, every year increasing in size and strength, adding 
to the number of its leafy operatives, and the amount of 
labor done, until it attains its greatest elevation. 

A peculiar alteration in its habit now becomes noticeable. 
For the sap is no longer expended in the extension of its 
stem and branches, but in the formation of its flowers and 
fruit. The period of puberty has arrived, the tree is in the 
full prime and vigor of life, and the growth of its stem and 
branches is gradually retarded, the vegetative efforts of 
each season being absorbed by the reproductive. The tree. 



N. 



22 THE BUILDING UP OF THE 

therefore, now preserves pretty mucli the same landscape 
character and appearance year after year. 

Our readers will now understand that the laborers en- 
gaged in building up the tree are its leaves; that these 
leaves become the parent of buds which develope into fami- 
lies of leafy operatives called shoots ; that these shoots form 
other shoots, which are constructed on the same plan and 
pattern as themselves; that the families of shoots thus asso- 
ciated, form working communities called branches ; and, 
finally, that the whole tree is built up by the united labors 
of its branches, which form every year out of the sap yew 
layers of wood and bark, thus adding to the strength and 
stability of the entire structure. 

Such is a brief outline of the building up of the tree-form 
out of its unit, the first phyton or leaf. 

The following reflections naturally suggest themselves, 
f and will we hope be adjudged a suitable close to the pre- 
sent chapter. 

A tree commences life under very unfavorable circum- 
stances, surrounded by ten thousand dangers, grows slowly, 
and has difficulties to contend against at every stage of its 
progress. Here we have a beautiful illustration of life as it 
is — a continual struggle against difficulty. All inspire after 
a better lot : but only a few succeed. These are invariably 
those who have the most life-energy and perseverance. The 
first steps in any undertaking are the most difficult; and all 
solid and enduring advancement is made slowly and imper- 
ceptibly. Let this never be forgotten. Pre-eminent talent 
in any business or profession is of slow growth, and is the 
result of industry and hard work. One difficulty surmount- 
ed leads to the conquest of others. If your aims be high 
and honorable, do not be discouraged, although your pro- 
gress may be slow and difficult. Let your motto be onward. 
There must be no retrograde movement. You have nothing 
to do with fear; it will retard your progress and defeat you 
in the attainment of your object. If you are industrious 
and persevering, if, when you cannot make headway, you 
carefully guard the advantages which you have already 



TREE-FOKM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 23 

gained, your success is only a question of time. You may 
not succeed, but if you are a father, your children may, if 
brought up properly. Recollect, a tree grows slowly, and 
becomes a tree despite of storms. Besides, after all, my 
friend, it is not one continuous storm, for there are occa- 
sional glimpses of sunshine to help you along ! And you 
would do well to look at the bright as well as the dark 
side of things. But storms will assail you: many and 
many another. It is part of the discipline of life. 

A tree extracts nutriment not only from w^andering 
winds, but from "rushing storms;" the most violent 
" thunder-showers" as w^ell as the silently descending 
dews have contributed materially to the building up of its 
fabric. Except in winter, wdien there is no growth, no I 
vital movement, the course of the tree is upward and I 
onward in all kinds of weather. The wind may roar 
among its branches, and the rain fall in torrents, but it 
continues to grow despite these hostile injluences, and 
becomes a great tree at last. The very strength w^hich 
we admire in a tree has been extracted from a thousand 
tempests. Storms have already tended to give it stability. 

It is ever thus wdth Nature's really great and noble. 
They show to the greatest advantage when assailed by 
storms. These only develope them. How frequently is 
innate talen{ brought out through the fear of wanting 
bread, the struggle to maintain a family ! Individuals so 
circumstanced usually make the most valuable contribu- 
tions to literature and the industrial arts. Man would 
never exert himself, he would live a life of inglorious ease 
and self-indulgence, he would do nothing to advance either 
himself or his species, if there were no difficulties in his 
pathway. He w^ould retrogade, go back to primeval 
savageism. It is adversity which calls forth the nobility 
of his nature, and makes him transform every obstacle into 
a monument of his skill and strength. The wise and 
noble-minded are ever brave and calm when enemies as- 
sail. Conscious of the rectitude of their intentions, they 
meet the foe with boldness and decision of character, and 



24 THE BUILDING UP OF THE 

the very storm is only a means of developing the intellec- 
tual and moral greatness of their nature. To the obscure 
and crooked ways of their enemies they oppose plain, 
straightforward conduct ; to their calumnies, a pure and 
blameless life; to their meanness and unfairness, upright- 
ness and honor in all their transactions. It is thus that 
they grow strong through conflict. Instead of being de- 
graded, they are ennobled by the struggle, elevated in the 
good opinion of their friends ; and like the tree, they de- 
rive a permanent advantage from the storm, and look all 
the better when it has passed. 
^ We have in every tree an illustration of the maxim, 
r"In union there is strength." A few leaves by their 
united labors form a shoot; and this, by repetition of 
itself, has produced a great tree. Just as the first shoot 
was built up by the leaves put forth by the growth of the 
first season, so the entire tree has been constructed by the 
labors of those successive generations of leaves with which 
it was annually adorned. It is true that the roots, by the 
food which they have taken up from the soil, have contri- 
buted their part to the general structure ; but the stem 
and branches have been formed from sap which was first 
rendered nutritious in leaves. These humble yet perish- 
able forms have been the architects of this noble and en- 
during structure. 

So it is with man. Individually feeble, he becomes 
powerful by entering into combination with his fellows. 
"Who has measured the magnitude of the earth, the 
planets, and the sun, and calculated the distance of the 
stars, by taking the diameter of the earth's orbit as a base 
line ? Who has made to disappear alike the gloomy forest 
and the poisonous swamp, and jDroduced on their site a 
landscape smiling with health and fertility? Who has 
girdled the earth with railroads, drawn down the light- 
nings from heaven, examined their nature, and given 
them their appointed channels, uniting the two continents 
with each other in telegraphic communication ? Whose 
thoughts now traverse the ocean with the rapidity of the 



TREK-FOEM OUT OF ITS UNIT. 25 

lightning's flash. It is Man in combination who has done 
these things. The present state of perfection to which 
art and science have been carried is the necessary re- 
sult of the labors of our fathers who have preceded us. 
The steam engine and electric telegraph are not the pro- 
duct of the present, but of all ages. They are the work 
of countless human generations ; of beings frail and 
perishable as summer leaves swept by autumnal winds 
from the trees of the forest. It is thus that the noble 
tree of science grows — not the deadly Upas, dissemina- 
ting everywhere poison and death, but the " Tree of Life," 
whose "leaves are for the healing of the nations." 

"We may also learn from the tree an impressive lessonP^ 
of our own frailty. Where are the leaves which built up 
this massive and majestic tree, which carries in the inte- 
rior of its stem the monumental history of its life, the im- 
pression left by centuries of seasons ? And where are the 
workmen who felled the forest and drained the swamps of 
Pennsylvania, built her cities and railroads, and spread 
over her hills and valleys so many scenes of rural industry, 
peace, and progress ? This is the work of former genera- 
tions, who have passed away like summer leaves from the 
tree which they were engaged in constructing. We now 
supply their places, and carry on their labors. We profit 
by the industry and experience of those human genera- 
tions which have preceded us. Each industrious man 
works not only for himself, but for posterity. We contri- 
bute a little during the active periods of our life, to the ad- 
vancement of the science and the civilization of society, 
and then we pass away and are seen no more here, for- 
ever. "We all do fade as a leaf." 



26 ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TREES MAY BE ADVAN- 
TAGEOUSLY STUDIED BY A CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF THE 
MARKS LEFT BY NATURE ON THEIR YOUNG BRANCHES— THE 
GROWTHS MADE BY THE TREE DURING THE FORMER YEARS OF 
ITS LIFE HAVING BEEN THERE ACCURATELY RECORDED. 

Every part of a tree, whether it be a branch, shoot, or 
leaf, represents exactly the organic condition of the tree 
during the earlier periods of its life, and a certain stage of 
development through which the entire tree itself has al- 
ready passed. For it is plain from the facts mentioned in 
Chapter I, that the tree was, at the commencement of the 
first year of its life a single leaf, and at its close a green her- 
baceous shoot, exactly like those annual growths which it 
now makes at the sides and extremities of its branches. In 
the spring of the second year, the buds formed by the leaves 
of the first year at the sides and summit of the first year's 
growth or shoot, developed into new growths or shoots, 
which were constructed after precisely the same pattern. 
They presented, in autumn, when defoliated, precisely the 
same external appearances, having side and terminal buds, 
and the same peculiar form of leaf-scar. "We are, therefore, 
necessarily led to regard them as only a repetition of the 
first year's slioot. For as the leaf is a unit, through repe- 
tition of which the first year's shoot is formed, so also is the 
first year's shoot itself a unit, but of a higher and more com- 
plex character, through repetition of which the branches, 
and ultimately the entire tree itself is constructed. The 
whole is therefore represented in each of its parts ; and if 
we take the terminal branches of the tree and study them 
carefully, we shall obtain clear and truthful views, not only 
of the condition of the tree during the first years of its life, 



ON THE YOUNG BARK. 27 

but of those general and pecnliar laws of growth whicli 
govern the entire tree itself. All the apparent confusion 
and irregularity among the branches and branchlets of a 
tree is the result of the operation of fixed and immutable 
laws of growth, to which the whole tree is subjected in com- 
mon with each of its parts. The entire tree is not different 
from one of its branches in the principles of its construc- 
tion. In fact, if one of the branches were severed from 
the stem and planted, it would not only represent one of 
the phases of growth of the tree, at an earlier stage of its 
life, but under favorable circumstances would actually 
grow into a separate and independent tree. 

In this, as in the figures of leaves, we have avoided an ex- 
travagance of illustration, in order that bur book may not be 
rendered too expensive. Besides, it is unnecessary. Trees 
are all constructed on the same general plan. Hence, we 
have taken our material, not from deep resources, but from 
common objects. It is proper here to remark, that the 
reader will understand more clearly the positions assumed, 
if he procure a number of branches of different trees, such 
as the beech, the hickory, the horse-chestnut, when defo- 
liated or in winter, and attentively study the marks on the 
exterior of the bark and the mode of ramification. If the 
branches are gathered when the trees are in leaf, the foli- 
age must be removed. 

The reader is already prepared to admit, without further 
proof, that the growth of the tree is very fluctuating, and 
is greatly influenced by changes in the weather. In this 
respect, the organism of a tree is quite as sensitive as the 
mercurial column in the tube of a barometer. It is well- 
known that the age of a tree may be ascertained by count- 
ing the rings visible on the cross section of its stem, and 
that the impress of centuries of seasons has been faithfully 
recorded in its woody layers. The seasons also leave their 
mark on the outside as well as the inside of the tree. When 
the young shoot, in early spring, unfolds itself from the bud, 
and the brown scales which enveloped the young leaves 
fall off, they leave ring-formed or annular scars at the hot- 



28 ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED 

torn of the sTioot, and we recognize in these numerous 
girdles, the place where, during the previous winter, the 
errowins: shoot remained in a state of rest. These bud- 
traces often continue visible for many years on the bark 
of trees, and through this means we can ascertain the 
age of a branch and the amount of its annual growth, as 
exactly as if we had ourselves observed and marked its 
progressive growths from year to year. The clearest marks 
of these bud-traces may be seen on the branches of the 
beech, the horse-chestnut, and the maple, and are less 
visible on the bark of the birch, the linden, and the fir, 
where they are not recognized through the growth and 
changes of the bark. 

The distance between two sets of bud-rings, estimated 
from the under and upper limit of the rings, shows the 
amount of shoot developed during the season ; and the age 
of the shoot can therefore be estimated by counting the 
number of sets of bud-rings visible on its bark. 

So also the rate of growth of the shoot may be deduced. 
It will be seen from the variation in the amount of shoot 
developed between the bud-rings, that the growth of the 
primary axis and its branches varies from year to year, and 
that powerful growths are sometimes followed by growths 
which are greatly retarded. Each branch has, in fact, its 
own peculiar history of growth ; and trees of different 
species difier not more widely in this respect than two 
branches on the same tree. 

But not only the fallen-off scales of the winter's bud, but 
also the green leaves of the stem leave behind them a pecu- 
liar scar on the bark, which marks the point of the stem 
to which they were attached, and the number of leaf-scars 
between two bud-traces, therefore enables us to estimate 
correctly the number of leaves which were put forth during 
the year, and thus we are able to picture to ourselves, not 
only the amount of growth of the branches, but also the 
extent to which the foliage was developed on them, and 
so, as it were, to make the tree live again. 

We may also add to all this, that in many trees the 



ON THE YOUNG BARK. 29 

flowers too leave their traces, eitlier in the form of 
withered flower-stems, or a peculiar mark, which con- 
tinues to he recognized up to a certain time. "Where the 
inflorescence is axillary, as in the Ash, the flower-scar is 
situated just above the leaf-scar, and cannot fail to he 
readily recognized ; and thus the past history of the de- 
veloj^ment of the flowers is recorded on the bark as well 
as the rate of growth and the number of leaves. 

The specific peculiarities of trees manifest themselves in 
the smallest details of their architecture, so that the least 
bud-trace, leaf, or flower-scar, sufiices by the peculiarity of 
its form to enable us to recognize the species of tree to 
which it belongs, and of which it is characteristic. 

To render the principal of these researches clearly un- 
derstood, we have selected the upper part of one of the 
branches of the purple beech [Fagus pupurea), which we 
have had carefully drawn from an ambrotype, so that our 
engraving is perfectly reliable, and presents a true and 
faithful copy of the original branch. We have also con- 
structed a biological table, in which we have exhibited 
numerically the difierent growths made by the primary 
axis and its branches, and the number of leaves and buds 
annually developed. 

By looking at the engraving, the reader will see that the 
main stem or primary axis of the branch has developed ten 
secondary axes or branches. The growth, number of 
leaves and shoots, or in other words, the history of the de- 
velopment of each of these ten secondary axes or branches 
has been also registered in the table, in the same way as 
the annual progress in vegetation made by the primary 
axis. The figures in the engraving opposite the annular 
scars left by the covering-leaves or bud-scales, will also 
assist the reader in estimating the amount of growth made 
by the branch, year after year ; for he has only to bear in 
mind that these annular scars mark the place of the bud 
or terminal growth of the branch during the year indi- 
cated by the figures, to place the exact vegetative condi- 
tion of the branch at any one of the previous years of its 
existence, as it were, in a moment before his eyes. 



80 



ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED. 



< 

O 
1—1 

o 
o 

o 

I— I 

PQ 





J^ 


OQ 1 






1 


1 




1 






^ 1 


c^ 1 




1 


1 




1 




(M 


cij 


CO 














op 




^ 1 






1 


1 










^ 1 


CO 1 




1 


i 








CO 




>< 










































li 


rH 














y-l 


! 


OQ 1 




rH 1 


1 


1 








rH 


^ 1 


ia 1 


Ifl 1 


CO 1 










CO 






















r* 


ci3 


M 


CO 


-* 














CQ 1 




M 1 


1 


1 








<N 


*^ 1 


in 1 


lO 1 


o, 1 










CO 




;> 










































ci! 


<M 


CO 


•<* 










lO 


CO 
M 

X 

< 


>^ 


^ 1 




rH 1 


1 










rH 


^ 1 


o 


lO 1 


0, 










2 




















t-H 




;^ 


t- 


C3i 


-* 










00 


ft 






(M 


(M 












o 




^ 




rH 












rH 


^ 


>* 


-* 


CO 










^^ 


o 


> 






































P^ 




'^ 




lO 


CO 










OO 


CO 






'-< 


r-l 














> 


c^ 




(M 




CO 








>o 


^ 


lO 


o 


^ 


^- 








C<l 










o 














cb 


?q 


CO 


CO 


t- 








lO 




!^ 




- 




-* 








« 


1^ 


M 


^ 


^ 


to 








5D 




^ 




O 




















5i 




M 


-* 


05 

CO 








Oi 




V, 








c 








c. 


^A 


^ 


^ 


CO 


^ 








s 






^ 


^ 


r-t 
r-l 


■? 


o 








to 




CQ 1 


1 






1 






^ 


^ 


^ 


-* 


■* 


'* 


1 




1 C<l 






!i 


<M 


__l 


CO 


op 


M 






50 




CQ 


\C 




T* 


1 CO 


1- 




IS 


•>^ 


^ 


^ 


CO 


o 


1 "^ 


1- 




\^ 






P^ 












CO 




Ch 




•T^ 


"* 


05 


lO 






t- 


cc 




(^ 


CM 




00 


00 


tH 




<N 




















H- 1 




















k1 




















<: 




















>* 




















P5 




















«< 








































r^ 


K 


















l-H 


<! 


















P5 


H 


















Ph 


K-l 
















1. 






00 


t- 




urs 


^ 


CO 


C^ 














lO 


o 


urs 


lO 


o 
H 






CO 


00 


oo 


GO 


oo 


OO 


CO 








r-^ 




rH 









"5 H 






-ft 



t-r "— 



c3 D ^ a 

S '^ c 

m S o "^ 

^ •" "" 2 

^ .2 ^ ^ 

o a '^ o 

>- S C3 -tJ 

^ M "- <2 

S 2 2 ^ 

<li 2 3 

- t^ g 

d = s ?" 



M a I H 



a 2- 



32 ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED 

This branch was cut in the latter part of March, 1858 ; 
and as there are six sets of hud-rings on its main axis, it is 
evident that it is six years old, and that its growth from 
the bud must have commenced in the spring of 1852. It 
is also plain that the first side-shoot commenced growing 
in the spring of 1853, and is, therefore, five years old. 
Hence, only five sets of bud-rings are visible on this shoot. 
The same law is apparent through the entire series of ra- 
mifications ; each shoot is one year younger, and will be 
found to have one set of bud-rings less than its parent 
axis. By comparing the engraving with the numerical 
calculations in the Table, it will be seen that the growth 
made by the primary axis between 1852 and 1853, was 
four inches, and that five leaves were put forth, only one 
of which produced a vitally active bud, which ultimately 
became a shoot. The buds produced by the other four 
leaves were rudimentary, and, as is evident from the en- 
graving, never came to anything. 

Again, by reference to the figures in the Plate and the 
calculations in the Table, the condition of the branch in 
the spring of 1854 will be seen at a glance. The primary 
axis had grown from the set of bud-rings marked 53 to the 
set marked 54, a distance of eight inches and five lines: it 
had developed five leaves, and as there are three branches 
connected with this portion of the main axis, it is evident 
that three out of the five leaves produced vitally active 
buds. So, also, the first side-shoot or secondary axis grew 
two lines and put forth four leaves. It grew, in fact, about 
the length of a bud-trace, or took a minimum of develop- 
ment. The distance between the two broken lines at the 
bottom of the engraving, figured 53 and 54, shows the ex- 
tent of growth of the first side-shoot between 1853 and 
1854. This, then, was the exact condition of our beech 
branch in the spring of 1854. There were terminal buds 
at all the points of the main axis marked 54 ; and conse- 
quently, with the exception of the slight side-growth made 
by the first secondary axis at the bottom, the primary axis 
itgelf still remained unbranched. 



ON THE YOUNG BARK. ' 33 

In precisely the same manner, tlie extent to which this 
branch had grown in the spring of 1855 may be ascertained. 
It is only necessary to bear in mind, that at all the points 
on the main axis and its branches marked 55, there were 
buds or terminal growths, and that at these points the grow- 
ing shoot was in a state of rest, in order to see that the three 
buds formed the previous year, or on that portion of the 
main axis contained between 53 and 54, had grown into 
three considerable branches, of the respective lengths of 
two inches and ten lines, six inches and nine lines, and 
seven inches and ten lines. There were, therefore, four 
well-marked secondary axes connected with the primary 
axis below the bud-trace marked 54 on the primary axis, 
whilst the four branches situated above it, and included 
between 54 and 55, were still in the bud condition. 

Between the years 1855 and 1856, the growth of the 
primary axis appears to have been very greatly retarded. 
It grew only four lines, put forth three leaves, and there 
was no side production. The same check to vegetation is 
also beautifully apparent on the branches during the same 
season. This is well represented in the engraving, and 
the figures in the table show a similar growth of four lines, 
three leaves, and no side production, of all the branches 
with the exception of the first and fourth, which grew 
eight lines and produced four leaves. This shows the in- 
timate physiological connection subsisting amongst a sys- 
tem of branches, and that if the growth of the primary 
axis is retarded, the growth of the secondary axes experi- 
ence a similar vegetative check. 

In like manner, the reader can easily ascertain the con- 
dition of growth of the branch during the years 1856 and 
1857, and thus accurately trace the several mutations of 
form through which it passed anterior to assuming its 
present one, in the Spring of 1858, as represented in our 
engraving. 

The following curious and highly- interesting facts may 
also be deduced from the calculations of the above Table. 

The figures 28, at the bottom of the first column 

3 



34 ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED 

marked L, show the number of leaves put forth by 
the primary axis ; and the sum of the figures of the 
ten columns marked L, of the secondary axes, or, 
20+15+16+21+ll+13+13+13+3+2==127, shows that 
one hundred and twenty-seven leaves were put forth by 
the ten secondary axes or branches ; therefore, the total 
number of leaves which constructed the entire branch, 
was 127+28=155. 

If the reader will refer to the Table and then to the 
Plate, he can form a true estimate as to the size of the 
branch. The length of the primary axis is twenty-seven 
inches and three lines, and of the largest secondary axis 
fifteen inches : yet it is the leaf-labor of one hundred and 
fifty-five leaves ! The branch itself we have shown to be 
only six years old. What then must be the immense num- 
ber of leaves engaged in the construction of trees which 
put forth thousands of such twigs, comparatively speaking, 
from their immense spreading branches, which grow from 
one to two hundred feet in height, and whose giant forms 
have stood for hundreds and even thousands of years? Who 
can estimate the quantity of leaf-surface spread abroad in 
the atmosphere from the first commencement of germina- 
tion, and the amount of leaf-labor necessary to rear such 
vast, noble, and enduring vegetable monuments ? " The 
Washington Elm, at Cambridge, — a tree of no extraordi- 
nary size — was some years ago estimated to produce a 
crop of seven millions of leaves, exposing a surface of 
two hundred thousand square feet, or about five acres of 
foliage."* 

Again referring to the Table and the engraving, we find 
that the increase of leaf-surface each year, was as follows : — 

1853, 5 ; 1854, 9 ; 1855, 25 ; 1856, 30 ; 1857, 41 ; 1858, 44. 
That is to say, in 1853 the branch put forth five leaves; in 

1854, nine leaves, &c. &c. These numerical results are 
obtained by adding together the figures under L, opposite 
the years, across the columns. 

* " First Lessons iu Botany and Vegetable Physiology," by Asa Gray, 

1857. 



ON THE YOUNG BARK. 35 

It is proper also to remark here, that with every increase 
in the number of leaves spread abroad in the atmosphere, 
by a young tree or branch, there must be necessarily an in- 
crease in the rapidity of its growth, because it has a greater 
amount of leaf-surface at work in the air. Its chances of 
life, and of arriving at a state of maturity, become greater 
as its leaves increase in number. But this law must be 
understood with considerable modifications. 

It will be seen by reference to the Table and the Plate, 
that the growth of the branch was greatly retarded" from 
1855 to 1856. The primary axis that season grew only 
four lines, and the ten secondary axes were also equally 
kept back, so that very little wood was formed that year ; 
altogether it amounted to only three inches and seven 
lines. Yet there were thirty leaves at work that season, 
being four more than was put forth the previous year, 
when a much greater amount of work was done, twenty- 
six leaves forming not less than twenty-seven inches and 
six lines of new shoot. It is clear from this, that growth 
is proportionate, not so much to the amount of leaf-surface 
spread forth in the atmosphere, as to the vital activity of 
the leaves themselves. 

Again, by consulting the Table, it will be seen that al- 
though twenty-eight leaves v/ere employed in constructing 
the primary axis, yet only ten produced buds which ulti- 
mately became branches ; also, that these ten branches, 
although constructed by one hundred and twenty-seven 
leaves, developed only seventeen shoots, as is evident by 
adding together the sum of the figures at the bottom of the 
columns marked S, under '• Secondary Axis;" it follows, 
that of these one hundred and twenty-seven leaves only 
seventeen produced vitally active buds. Therefore, the 
total number of abortive or rudimentary buds in the entire 
branch must be 155— (17+10)=128. 

The number of shoots annually put forth, were, in 
1853, 1; 1854, 3; 1855, 13; 1856, 0; 185T, 10; 1858, 0. 

The increase in the growth of the entire branch was, in 
1853,4; 1854,8-7; 1865,27-6; 1856,3-7; 1857, 18-8; 1858, 



36 ANNUAL GROWTHS RECORDED ON THE YOUNG BARK. 

19*9: that is to say, in 1853, the branch grew four inches ; 
in 1854, eight inches and seven lines, &c. &c. These re- 
sults are obtained by adding together the sum of the 
growths of the primary and secondary axis, placed oppo- 
site the years, across the columns, as before. 

We have therefore, in this Table, the whole history of the 
annual growths of our beech-branch placed at once before 
the eye. ^ow the importance of such tables, as presenting 
a truthful picture of the growth of trees, is at once appa- 
rent. Similar tables might be constructed, representing 
the annual growths made by one of the terminal branches 
of the horse-chestnut or any other tree ; and provided the 
measurements and observations were accurately made and 
registered, the comparison of the tables would show not 
only the general laws of growth, which were common to 
all of them, but those peculiar specific laws to which each 
was subjected, and by the operation of which they were 
made to differ from each other. 

The history of development is now the watchword of the 
day in botany ; and it is evident that by a careful construc- 
tion of tables like the above, from references made to marks 
which Nature herself has made, we can, by a simple yet 
most accurate method, study the history of development, 
and this too in the strongest sense of the word. Such 
tables give to botanists a view of the past life-changes of 
the branch or portion of the tree whose biology is thus 
registered, just as the marks left by Nature in the strata 
or upturned leaves of the " Stony Volume of Creation," 
enable the geologist to picture to himself the condition of 
the earth during the earlier epochs of its formation. 

Of the tree, it may be truly said that the whole is re- 
presented IN EACH OF its PARTS. The carcful study of its 
development is, therefore, phj^siologically speaking, most 
important, because beautifully illustrative of this grand 
'principle of organic life and form. 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 37 



CHAPTER III. 

THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES, OR A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF 
CELLS WHICH ENTER INTO THE COMPOSITION OF THEIR TISSUES. 

If we wish to recognize the law according to which the 
tree is built up out of its parts as a compound harmonious 
whole, we must first resolve the representation of the whole 
into that unit which lies at the foundation of its super- 
structure. This we have already done, to some extent, in 
the two previous chapters. Taking the tree, in the most 
extended signification of the term, as a separate individual 
or unit with reference to a forest, we have shown that this 
individual tree consists of a number of individual plants of 
a highly composite character called branches, which difi:er 
from the entire tree itself only in the smaller scale on 
which they are constructed, and which actually prefigure 
the amount of growth of that tree at an earlier stage of its 
life. These branches are formed by a union of yet simpler 
individuals called shoots, and the shoots themselves are 
built up by phytons or leaves, individuals or units which 
rank still lower in the series. In this manner we have\ 
been lead to the leaf at the fundamental organ in the | 
building up of the tree-form. 

But this analysis may be carried much further. It may 
be applied to the inner organization of the tree. Thus the 
axis or stem separates into two distinct systems the bark 
and the wood, as the two highest units of its anatomical 
composition. Each of these systems again resolves itself 
into a repetition of single annual layers. If we examine 
one of these layers with a microscope, we shall find it also 
to be a compound, and that it can be resolved into indi- 



38 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

vidnals having distinct peculiarities of form and function, 
called cells. We have now arrived at the lowest and 
simplest individual or elementary organ, the cell. 

By the aid of Chemistry we can descend however, another 
step, and can resolve the cell into its original elements of 
sugar, water, salts, and protein compounds, and these 
again into their ultimate elements, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Car- 
bon, and Nitrogen — elements into which this grand, living, 
and wondrous architecture of ITature is at last resolved, 
when it has passed through all the phases of its life, as its 
defoliated form slow^ly disappears from the landscape. 

Now as all clear and correct views of the anatomy and 
physiology of trees must be based on a knowledge of their 
minute structure, before proceeding further we shall give 
some account of these simple elementary cells ; for by this 
means we shall be able to explain more satisfactorily cer- 
tain superficial and very obvious appearances of their bark 
and wood, and thus advance another step in the elucidation 
of the philosophy of their growth. It is indeed necessary 
to the perfection of this picture of the building-up of the 
tree, that we should begin with the simplest building stone, 
the CELL, which is the basis of the whole living super- 
structure, and to which we have been led by the above 
analysis. 

If we examine the transverse section of the stem of a 
young beech-tree, we shall find it to be composed of a num- 
ber of concentrical and almost circular beds or layers of 
wood, ensheathing one another about a common centre, 
which is occupied by a canal of medulla or pith, and the 
whole of which is covered by the bark formed on the exterior 
of the stem. Even without a microscope, there is no diffi- 
culty in distinguishing the bark, the wood, and the pith, and 
thus in ascertaining the fact that the stem is composed of 
three separate and distinct systems ; but when we examine a 
thin cross-section of one of the newly-developed shoots with 
the microscope, we obtain a far more correct view of its 
anatomical structure. We see that the bark and pith are 
composed of a number of bladder-like vesicles or cells of a 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 39 

variable form, which are united among themselves and form 
a continuous mass; and that the woody portion of the stem 
consists of thick-walled cells, among which are numerous 
openings exhibiting quite a distinctive character. The exa- 
mination of a longitudinal section of the same shoot proves 
that these openings are the mouths of vessels of a cylindri- 
cal form, and that the thick- walled cells are sections across 
tubes which taper to either extremity, terminating in a point. 

Attempts have been made by botanists to classify these 
diiferent species of cells according to their outward form, 
which have failed to give satisfaction : their form being too 
variable to admit of a classification of them on such a basis. 
A much better character, because a more permanent one, is 
afforded by their physiological peculiarities. Guided by 
this principle, we may readily distinguish, in the stem of 
the beech-tree, six different species of cells. In the bark, 
three species, viz., the cells of the epidermis, those of the 
corky or tuberous envelope, and the Jasi-cells ; in the 
wood, two species, the fibre-cells, and the vasiform or duct- 
cells ; and in the pith and medullary rays, one species, 
common parenchyma. 

Each of these species of cells carries its own life, has its 
own peculiar period of growth and vital activity ; and its 
cells difler morphologically as well as chemically from the 
cells of the neighboring tissues. 

THE BARK. 

The Cells of the Epidermis clothe the outer part of the 
bark of trees during the first year of their life, and subse- 
quently the surface of those green herbaceous shoots which 
are annually put forth from the branches. These cells are 
in form, flat and tabular, and as they are without chloro- 
phyl, and are united among themselves with an extraordi- 
nary degree of force, they may be separated from the sub- 
jacent tissues, without being detached from each other, as a 
continuous transparent plate or membrane. In the young 
and tender condition of the stem of trees the epidermal 
cells are of considerable importance ; but they survive the 



40 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

first year only in a few cases. In general, these cells die 
toward the middle of summer, and the epidermis becomes 
fissured and rent. The epidermis is therefore absent from 
the old stems of forest trees. The pores must be regarded 
as a variety of the epidermal cells. 

The Corh Cells or Tuberous layer. — These cells lie imme- 
diately beneath the epidermis. They are more or less flat, 
tabular, and thin-walled cells of a brown color. They form 
themselves under the epidermis, and usually appear first as 
lenticels through the chinks of the epidermal layers. The 
commencement of the cork formation can be observed 
under the epidermis of the young branches of the oak, 
birch, and beech, in the middle of summer, or at the com- 
mencement of autumn. It is the cork which gives to the 
trunk of trees their peculiar color and rugged appearance. 
"When the cork-cells form, the ej)idermis speedily dies ofi*, 
and the cork supplies its place and in some measure its 
function. It restrains, equally with the epidermis, the eva- 
poration from the underlying cells, and affords them an ex- 
cellent protective shelter from hurtful outward influences. 
Cork invariably forms itself over the wounds of plants as a 
protective envelope. Therefore, although the life of the 
cork-cells is of short duration, they form when dead, a very 
important tissue, and continue to be of considerable service 
to the tree. The rough fissured bark on the outside of old 
trees chiefly, consists of layers of dead cork-cells. 

The BastCells. — These form the fibrous portion of the inner 
bark, and develope vertically as elastic tubes, more or less 
elongated and thick-walled, which usually lie together in 
fascicles or bundles, and are united with considerable force. 
It is these bundles which constitute the textile fibres in 
flax and hemp, and in general in all plants cultivated for the 
fabrication of clothiug. The bast-cells are also a very 
important tissue for the manufacture of paper and cord- 
age. They elongate themselves with the parts of the 
plant in which they originate without forming new cells, 
and often attain to a considerable length. It is in the bast- 
fibres that the sap descends after its elaboration in the 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 41 

leaves. The fluid contents of these cells are, therefore, as 
manifold as that of the parenchyma cells. The bast-cells 
of one plant contain quite a different fluid matter to that of 
another plant. In one, the fluid is poisonous; in another, 
nutritive : here it is a white, yellow, or orange-colored 
milk sap : there, caoutchouc, chlorophyl, or resinous mat- 
ters are present. 

Although the bast-cells form the innermost layer of bark, 
in no case do they rest immediately on the wood. They 
are always separated by a bed of cells more or less thick, 
called the cambium layer. 

THE WOOD. 

The wood includes nearly the whole of that part of the 
stem situated beneath the bark. It consists of a number 
of ligneous circles, visible on the cross-section, which are 
traversed by lines radiating from the centre to the circum- 
ference of the stem, that is to say, from the medullary 
canal to the bark, called the medullary rays. 

This disposition of the wood in circular beds or layers, 
takes place in all the trees of countries where the season of 
growth has only a limited duration, and is followed by a 
period of cold and vegetable inactivity. Each year there is 
formed in spring a new bed of wood, and at the same time 
a fresh layer of bark. The age of a tree is, therefore, in 
most cases, the same as the number of ligneous circles 
which can be counted on the cross-section of its stem. In 
the same manner the age of the branches may be computed. 

This fact must be mentioned with some restrictions ; for, 
in certain circumstances, as for instance, when a warm 
spring is succeeded by a wet, cold summer, vegetation re- 
ceives a check, and a ring is formed prematurely ; with the 
return of more favorable weather, the tree again makes a 
rapid growth, so that at the close of the vegetative season 
two rings have been formed during the same year. The 
rings become less distinct in Exogenous trees as we travel 
South. On approaching warmer climates, where vegetation 
continues almost without interruption throughout the whole 



42 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

year, tlie rings become confounded one witli the other; 
they are much thumer, and so multiplied that they cease 
to be reliable, and do not indicate in any manner the age 
of the tree. 

The trees of temperate climates usually thicken them- 
selves in their whole circumference, and the unequal de- 
velopment of only one side must always be regarded as an 
exceptional case. In tropical countries there are, however, 
trees whose stems take the most wonderful forms, in con- 
sequence of the unequal development of their sides. Some 
of them belong to the genus Bauhinia, Natural Order, 
Leguminosge. The most striking example among the spe- 
cies of this genus is furnished by the stem of Heretiera 
Forties. The first year the stem of this tree is normally 
formed, a small wood-ring surrounding the pith ; but after- 
ward it annually thickens by crescent-like deposits of wood 
on two opposite sides ; the stem thus presents a flattened, 
compressed appearance. "I examined such a stem," says 
Dr. Herman Schacht,* "which was eighteen inches in one 
direction, in the other, on the contrary, it was only two 
inches broad," presenting "in some measure, the appear- 
ance of a natural plank, surrounded by a weak bark." 

Anomalous forms of Exogenous stems also exist amongst 
tropical trees belonging to the Natural Orders Bignonia- 
cese, Malpighiacese, Menispermacese, and Aristolochiacese.f 

In the wood of beech-trees, two distinct species of cells 
can be recognized, the fibre-cells and the vasiform or duct-^ 
cells. 

The fibre-cells form the principal part of the wood of 
each ligneous deposit. They are elongated and extremely 
attenuated cells, tapering to either extremity, and lying to- 
gether in bundles more or less compact, which are developed 
vertically. It is through the fibre-cells of the wood that 
the main current of the sap flows in the spring. Their vital 

* " Lehrbuch der Anatomie und Physiologic der Gewachse," page 345, 
Berlin, 1856. 

t See, " Precis de Botanique et de Physiologie Vegetale," par A. Rich- 
ard ; page 75-80, Paris, 1852. 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OP TREES. 43 

activity, however, only continues for a short time. Their 
walls are soon thickened by earthy matter, which goes on 
accumulating, until their cavities are finally closed, and 
the sap ceases to circulate through them. The color then 
changes, and they no longer take any further part in the 
vital operations of the tree. Their function is now purely 
a mechanical one ; for the very same matter which termi- 
nates life endows them with force and persistence. The 
fibre-cells thus lignified, form, as it were, the skeleton or 
framework of the tree, and withstand outer influences as 
well as inner decomposition much longer than the other 
tissues. They are the very last to yield to dissolution. 

The vasiform or duct-ce.lls are spread through the mass of 
fibrous tissue. They originate out of a row of cells, the 
cross walls of which are absorbed, so that, when fully de- 
veloped, they form one continuous tube. These ducts may 
be readily distinguished from the wood-cells among which 
they are interspersed, as their interior diameter or bore is 
much more considerable, and they remain permanently 
open. The open mouths of the ducts are very conspicuous 
on the transverse section of common pine-wood, where 
they resemble pores. There are several varieties of this 
species of cell termed by botanists, dotted, annular, spiral, 
and scalariform ducts. The whole of these vessels at first 
contain sap, which is afterward displaced by air. They 
may be regarded, in fact, as the air-vessels of plants, by 
means of which the sap in their interior is brought into 
communication with the atmosphere. This is the reason 
why these ducts or air-tubes are placed amongst the fibre- 
cells or sap-tubes, as inspection plainly shows. 

The ducts and fibre-cells are, however, arranged in the 
stem according to a definite law, as inspection plainly 
shows ; for the former preponderate in number toward the 
interior portion of the ring, whilst the fibre-cells are most 
abundant towards its exterior. The bounding line of each 
year's growth is easily distinguished by this internal ar- 
rangement of the ducts, and its cause is to be sought for 
in the vital economy of the tree itself. The inner portion 



44 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

of the wood-ring, with its loose and porous structure, is 
constructed in spring, when the greatest amount of sap is 
needed for the nutrition of the growing leaves, shoots, and 
flowers. Hence the wood-cells formed at this time have 
wide cavities, and their walls are but slightly thickened. 
They have been called by botanists ducts, and through 
them the current of sap flows in early spring, when it is 
most in demand. But in summer and autumn, when the 
new leaves and shoots are fully developed, less sap is 
needed. The outer and more compact portion of the wood 
is formed at this time, and the wood-cells then developed 
are adapted in their tubular capacity, to the diminished ne- 
cessities of the tree ; their cavities are much smaller and 
their walls thicker. It is the long, attenuated forms of 
these cells which has led to their being called fibre-cells. 

The fibre and duct-cells die early. There is a gradual 
cessation of their vitality, inseparably connected with their 
formation. So soon as a cell ceases to form new cells, or 
to develope or carry nourishing matter in it, so soon as its 
fluid contents disappear and it becomes filled with air, it 
may be considered as dead. This is the condition of the 
fibre and duct-cells when fully developed ; then the sap 
disappears from their cavities, and we find in them neither 
protoplasm nor cell-nuclei. Their nitrogenous contents 
have been expended either in the lignification of their 
walls, or they have been absorbed by the neighboring 
cells. With the disappearance of this formative material, 
the life of these cells necessarily terminates. 

THE PITH AND THE MEDULLARY RAYS. 

These are parenchyma cells ; the most widely diffused, 
important, and variable tissue of plants. The paren- 
chyma cells of the pith are spherical or ovoid when they 
are but slightly united together, but more often they be- 
come more or less polyhedral by reciprocal pressure. 

In the young stem, the pith is of considerable importance; 
it abounds in nutritive matter, which serves to nourish the 
young buds on its surface, and is often of a green color, 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 45 

more or less intense. But when the buds develope into 
branches, supporting leaves, flowers, and other appen- 
dages, the nutritive liquids accumulated in the pith are 
absorbed, the particles of green matter disappear ; and 
when the vegetation commenced in spring is arrested in 
autumn, the cells of the pith are dry, colorless, and empty : 
they are then, in fact, dead cells. 

The parenchyma cells of the medullary rays are of a 
quadrilateral form, and develope in horizontal radiating 
lines from the pith to the bark. These lines are easily 
distinguished on the cross-section of the stem, when the 
wood is compact and not too deeply colored : the oak, for 
example. Their looser structure and lighter color renders 
them in such circumstances more visible. The medullary 
rays develope vertically as well as horizontally, and parti- 
tion oft' the wood into a number of wedges, in the form of 
elongated triangles, of which the point that is a little 
obtuse corresponds to the medullary canal. 

The medullary rays are of great service to the old wood. 
They maintain an exchange of sap between the cells of the 
pith, wood, and bark ; and when the pith-cells are quite 
dead, they unite the older annual layers of wood with the 
younger and with the bark, and thus continue the commu- 
nication. They therefore survive the death of the pith-cells, 
and even of the wood-cells, in the midst of which they ra- 
diate. The medullary rays of a five or six years' old wood- 
ring, are still vitally active cells, filled with sap. 

We have now given the anatomical and physiological 
peculiarities of the different species of cells which, united, 
form the tissue or substance of the stem of a beech tree. 
We proceed to investigate the physiological phenomena of 
these cells, as combined together into a continuous tissue, 
and thus give the reader as clear and philosophical an idea 
as possible of the growth of the tree. 

The remarkable disposition of the substance of the bark 
and wood in circular strata or layers, results from the an- 
nual formation of a new stratum or bed of wood on the 
exterior of that already existing there, and of one or more 



46 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

layers of bark on the inner surface of the bed of bark 
formed during the previous year. 

If during winter, when vegetation is in a state of repose, 
we examine the cross-section of a young stem or branch, 
we shall find it in the follovv'ing state. The bark and wood 
are firmly united with each other, and lying directly be- 
tween them a bed of parenchyma will be seen, deprived of 
green granules, which is called the cambium layer. This 
bed has been formed during the preceding summer, from 
the descending sap or cambium, which spreads itself be- 
tween the bark and wood ; and it is through the trans- 
formations efiected in its cells that new rings of wood and 
layers of bark are annually produced. Parenchyma is the 
original form of every species of cells. If we examine with 
the microscope a section of a young leaf, or root, or any 
other organ of a plant, we shall find that it is composed 
entirely of parenchymatous tissue in the first stages of its 
development ; as growth progresses, these cellules are 
gradually transformed into fibre-cells, and vasiform tissue 
or ducts. In the same manner, the different species of 
cells, forming the annual growths of wood and bark, are 
generated from the parenchyma cells of the cambium layer. 

During winter we perceive no change in the cells of the 
cambium layer, which are filled with nutritive matter, whilst 
the cells of the medullary rays contain starch. As soon, 
however, as spring commences, the starch granules are con- 
verted into a soluble sugary gum called dextrine, with which 
the cells of the cambium layer are speedily gorged, so that 
the bark and wood are now easily separated. It is out of 
this viscid mucilaginous matter, or cambium, that the new 
layer of bark and wood is annually produced. For as the 
weather gets warmer, the vital activity of the cells of the 
cambium layer becomes fully aroused, and they generate 
cells of the same nature as those witli which they are organi- 
cally united, out of the cambium or sap with which their cavi- 
ties are charged, and elongate into fibre and bast-cells ; wood 
producing wood, bark forming bark, the cells preserving 
their original form of parenchyma only in those portions 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 47 

which correspond to the medullary rays. In this manner 
a new layer of wood and bark is annually formed. 

The parenchyma cells of the cambium layer retain their 
vital activity longer than any other cells in the tree ; for, as 
new cells are developed from this tissue every season, the 
death and birth of its cells keep with one another equal 
steps. These cells may continue to be vitally active to some 
extent : even when the life-processes have ceased through 
nearly the entire structure of the tree, here life may still 
linger, these cells being the very last to yield up their 
vitality. 

The vasiform or duct-cells in early spring, when the as- 
cent of the sap is most powerful, at first convey it to the 
leaves in conjunction with the fibre-cells of the wood. But, 
as the flow of the sap becomes less vigorous, it gradually 
disappears from the ducts, owing to their deficiency in the 
requisite amount of capillarity, which thus become filled 
with air; the finer capillary tubes of the fibre-cells, however, 
still induce a continuance of its flow through their cavities. 

As the sap speedily subsides in the ducts, earthy deposits 
necessarily accumulate sparingly on their parieties or walls, 
and their tubes remain permanently open. The interior 
diameter of the duct-tubes is from the first much larger 
than the bore of the fibre-tubes, hence the sap continues to 
flow in the latter much longer than in the former: in fact, 
throughout the season. As every additional deposit of 
earthy matter on the walls of the fibre-cells necessarily gives 
them a finer degree of capillarity, the sap continues to flow 
in them through subsequent seasons, until their tubular 
character is obliterated altogether. When this is the case, 
the life of the fibre-cells is terminated, and they exercise a 
purely mechanical function. 

This solidification of the fibre-cells is usually connected 
with a change in the color of the wood, more or less marked. 
If the transverse section of the stem of an oak or cherry- 
tree be examined, a very perceptible difference will be seen 
between the circular beds of wood toward the interior of 
the stem, which are of a deeper color and more compact than 



48 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

those situated nearest the bark, which are, on the contrary, 
pale, and of a looser texture. The pale wood nearest the 
bark is called the alburnum, or sap-wood, as the sap still 
continues to circulate there to a greater or less extent ; the 
older, more compact, deeply-colored, and more solidified 
wood, which occupies the more interior part of the stem, is 
called duramen or heart- wood. This wood consists of dead, 
indurated cells, the cavities of which have been filled up 
with earthy matter or lignine, and is the part chiefl}'- valued 
by workmen as most suitable for manufacturing purposes. 
The various fancy-colored woods employed by the turner 
and cabinet-maker, consist of the heart-wood only, which 
assumes different colors in different species, being black in 
the ebony, bright yellow in the barberry, purplish red in 
the cedar, and dark brown in the black walnut. The 
alburnum in all these trees, even in the ebony itself, is 
always white, and is chipped ofi" with the axe before the 
wood is shipped, as a part of little or no value. 

The years' rings are manifest not only in the wood, but 
also in the bark ; and in the pine and other trees those last 
formed continue to be unbroken for a number of years. But 
whilst every new layer of wood is deposited on the exterior 
surface of the last year's wood, the diameter of the wood is 
a constantly increasing quantity, each ring of wood remain- 
ing unaltered in its dimensions and position until its cells 
finally decay ; each new layer of bark is deposited on the 
interior surface of the ring of bark of the previous year ; 
hence, the bark-rings or layers, previously deposited, are 
subjected to gradual but incessant distention, and are finally 
fissured and rent. The interior growth of the bark, com- 
bined with the annual development of the subjacent wood- 
rings, thus prevents an accumulation of bark to any very 
great extent, on the exterior of the stem. Hence it is that, 
on the cross-section, the bark bears but a small proportion 
in thickness to the wood. In the common plane tree, after 
the eighth or tenth year, all the old layers of bark fall away 
entirely in the form of brittle plates. The innermost layers 
of wood, and the outermost layers of bark, are therefore, 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 49 

after a certain period, both deprived of life. The cork tree 
(Quercus suber) however, is an exception. On the stem of 
this tree, which is cultivated in Spain, Portugal, and the 
South of France, the bark grows to a considerable thickness, 
and is removed from the tree every eight or ten years. It is 
taken off in sheets or tables, much in the same way as oak or 
larch bark is removed. After being detached it is flattened, 
by presenting the convex side to heat or pressure. In either 
. case it is charred on both surfaces, to close the transverse 
pores previously to its being sold. The carbonized surface 
produced by this charring may be seen in bungs and taps, 
but not in corks, which being cut in the direction of the 
wood, the charring is taken oft' in the rounding. The dead 
bark is taken off for the first time when the tree is about 
fifteen years old ; it soon grows again, and the tree may be 
rebarked three times, the bark improving every time until 
the tree attains the age of thirty years. 

The old, dead, and fissured bark on the exterior surface 
of yon aged tree, was once a young, living, and continuous 
tissue in immediate contact with the wood, and has been 
gradually separated from it, by the subjacent growth of suc- 
cessive strata, or rather annual generations of bark-cells. 
Life has in succession passed from these away. The older 
and more exterior, shelter the younger and more internal 
bark-cells. Vegetative life is at present,* torpid and inac- 
tive, and the snow covers the ground ; but the sun shall 
again shine bright and warm on that now leafless tree, and 
under its influence another generation of young and vitally 
active bark-cells shall develope, and be pushed forward to 
die on the exterior of the stem and be ultimately thrown off 
like the generations which have preceded them. 

From the whole of these facts it may be inferred, that the 
life of a tree depends on a harmonious working together of 
both its living and dead cells, the latter remaining not only 
as a mechanical prop or foundation for new generations, like 
the dead individuals of a coral reef, but giving to the entire 
organism additional strength, after they have ceased to 

"* This passage was written in the winter of 1857. 
4 



50 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

take part in its vital operations, and tlierefore still remain- 
ing a necessary part of it, as a living physiological whole. 

It is also evident that the different species of cells which 
united together form the tissues of trees, like their leaves 
and other organs, are individuals having distinct physio- 
logical functions to perform. These plant-cells differ from 
the phytons or leaves only in the greater simplicity of their 
organization ; both are governed by the same general laws, 
having a life peculiar to themselves, and their own period 
of arriving at a state of maturity and decay. There is also, 
evidently a similar division of organic labor amongst the 
cells, as amongst the leaves ; each cell contributes its part 
to the building up of the tree, and the separate and com- 
bined labor of the whole of them is necessary in order to 
effect those various transmutations and changes of the raw 
nutritive material, or sap, into its final products. We know 
that some of the cells, such as the fibre and duct-cells, are 
principally employed in carrying the raw material from one 
part of the cell community to the other, and that these 
changes are wTOUght in the parenchyma cells, not of the 
leaves alone, but in parenchyma everywhere ; for the paren- 
chyma cells of the root and pith are frequently as rich in 
starch as those of the bark or leaves. But- we are at 
present profoundly ignorant not only of the nature of these 
transmutations, but also of the order in which they take 
place : for that the entire series are governed by fixed laws 
of sequence is plainly indicated by the whole of the vital 
phenomena of the plant. 

We see it put forth a regular series of organs, which 
follow each other in a determinate order of time, and not 
only contribute to the nourishment of each other, but yield 
up life in succession in efiecting a progressive metamor- 
phosis of the constituents of the sap, and the advance of the 
plant towards the perfection of its structure. And first the 
seed-covers are ruptured and the nursing-leaves atrophied 
in the development of the first series of phytons ; these latter 
die in developing the stem and the buds on its outside. These 
buds consist of a series of covering leaves, which shelter the 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OP TREES. 51 

punctum vegetationis or growing point of the young slioots 
through winter; they die and fall off in spring. When the 
new generation of phy tons are put forth into the atmosphere, 
another series of covering-leaves are formed by them, which 
are left in charge of the growing points of the shoot through 
winter, as before. In this manner there is an oscillation 
between these two kinds of leaves in trees for a series of 
years, until the tree arrives at an adult state. The different 
phytonsof the flower designated by botanists as sepals, pe- 
tals, stamens, and pistils, whose individuality is so strikingly 
marked, then make their appearance, and these die in suc- 
cession in developing the walls of the pericarp, or seed- 
vessel. Lastly, the vitality of the walls of the pericarp 
itself is exhausted ; for the whole of the nutritious contents 
of its cells must pass through the funiculus, or vegetable 
umbilicus, the little stalk by which the seed is fastened to 
the seed-vessel, into the nursing-leaves and seed-covers, 
before the germ of the future plant can be fully formed. 

There can, therefore, no longer remain a particle of 
doubt about the fact that the cells which form the organ 
of a tree, work together in communities according to fixed 
laws of succession, and that the design of the whole of these 
arrangements is to effect such changes in the sap as to secure 
its final transmutation into those peculiar products by which 
the tree is distinguished. Just as in civilized communities 
the raw material of our manufactures goes through a regular 
series of changes in the hands of a great number of work- 
men, before the goods are manufactured and fit for sale, so 
with the ultimate products of plants, which are as various 
as the plants which produce them. These have all been 
manufactured from the raw material, or sap, which has gone 
through a regular series of preparatory metamorphoses, or 
changes in the interior of the plant. The lowest order of 
individuals employed in effecting these changes are the cells, 
which combined together into communities form those dif- 
ferent varieties of phytons which develope about the axis 
or stem of the plant. These phytons or cell-communitiea 
constitute a still higher type of individuals, which appear 



52 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

in regular order and change tlieir form and color as the 
metamorphosis of the sap progresses. In herhaceous an- 
nuals and perennials, a few weeks or months is all that is 
required to transmute the sap into its final products; but 
in perennial ligneous plants, such as shrubs and forest trees, 
the period of metamorphosis is greatly protracted, and it is 
sometimes years before the whole thing culminates, and 
the luscious fruit hangs at last from the branches. 

The recent advances which have been made in Vegetable 
Anatomy and Physiology, result from the right application 
of chemical reagents to sections of vegetable tissue, when 
placed beneath the microscope. The principal reagents 
employed in these researches are Sulphuric Acid, Iodine, 
Caustic Potash, Sulphuric Ether, Alcohol, and Ammonia. 
Through the use of these reagents, a few facts have been 
brought to light. Starch, for example, is detected by Iodine, 
if present in the cells, by the blue color which the granules 
assume. In this manner starch may be readily ascertained 
to exist in the tubers of the potato and in the milky juice of 
EupJiorhia splendens. It is only necessary to place a thin 
transparent slice of the tuber of the potato or a single drop 
of the milk of the Euphorbia, under the microscope and 
apply Tincture of Iodine, wdien the granules will imme- 
diately become visible by the deep blue color which they 
will take. 




a. Club-shaped granules in milky juice oi Eupliorhia sj)Iende7is. b. Three 
of the lactiferous vessels, with starch granules in sific. — Quekett, 

In a similar manner, the chemical nature of chlorophyl, 
the substance which gives to the leaves of plants their green 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 53 

color, lias been examined ; so also, gum, sugar, resin, and 
the other products of the cells. It has been ascertained 
that starch passes into dextrin and sugar, which substances 
are again transmuted into starch; but when we look at the 
rich diversity of vegetable productions and find that the 
most learned chemists and physiologists are compelled, 
through pure ignorance, to speak in the most general 
terms about the nature and order of these changes, we 
cannot but feel how little the works of Kature are under- 
stood. Look at the flowers in any garden ! What an end- 
less variety of color, form, and fragrance ! Each variety of 
leaf connected with the stem, including the pistils, stamens, 
petals, sepals, and even the bracts, stipules, and bud-scales, 
are doubtless formed with an especial reference to the ela- 
boration of the sap into those final products by which the 
plant is characterized ; yet, notwithstanding all that has 
been written and said on the subject, it must be confessed 
that we cannot, as yet, appreciate the perfection of the 
machinery, or trace the progress of the raw material 
through all its changes, until it reaches its final metamor- 
phosis. In this respect, not only the tree, but the com- 
monest weed is an interesting study ; it exemplifies the 
laws of growth quite as much as the costly exotic in the 
conservatory. The flowers and forest trees which cover 
and adorn the earth, may be regarded as so many beau- 
tiful living problems, which are everywhere presented to 
us by the Great Intelligence for our solution. 

And now, reader, may I be permitted to lay before you 
some reflections which appear to me to be suggested by 
the facts advanced in the last two chapters. *-j 

/ Be usefully employed, never be idle. This grand moral 
I lesson is taught us by every portion of the fabric of a tree. 
l^Tot only each goodly branch and vigorous shoot, each frail 
and perishable leaf of the many thousands which have 
passed forever away, but even the minutest and most in- 
significant bract and bud-scale has contributed to the for- 
mation of the tree. Some of the phytons were neither 
green nor gorgeous in their apparel, their external appear- 



54 ■ THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

ance was insignificant, and the task allotted to tliemin the 
labor of construction was small ; but it was nevertheless, 
physiologically speaking, an important one : for phytons, 
even when for want of a proper supply of sap and sun- 
light they can produce nothing but starveling shoots, or 
take the form of stipules or bud-scales, are nevertheless 
necessary in the places where they are situated, in order 
to develope other parts which are of more service to the 
tree. They form a link in the chain of mutual labor. 
And not only individually do they receive support from 
the tree, but each labors according to the extent of its 
capacity in yielding the tree an equivalent, in insuring it 
the means of protecting and sustaining its life. 

Even the little cell, through the increase of which the 
whole mass of the tree itself is formed, plainly teaches us 
this great moral lesson. According to physiologists, man 
himself was, at the commencement of life, nothing but a 
single cell. The inner organization of trees, and the pe- 
culiarities of their cell-life, has therefore some claim on 
his consideration. 

Variety of form and function is characteristic of all the 
parts of the tree, and not less varied are the gifts of the in- 
dividuals constituting the population of a city or country. 
It is this variety of gift, this division and association of 
labor for a common object, which has created society. 
And there can be no growth or progress either ^of indi- 
viduals or communities without labor. 

Let me define what I understand by the term labor. 
To many persons this word conveys ideas of nothing but 
suffering, constraint, and fatigue. This is not what I 
mean. I call labor any useful employment of our physical 
and intellectual powers ; some occupation of mind or body, 
'no matter what, by means of which we insure our own 
progress and the advance of society. This lesson is 
taught, not only by all the individual parts of the noble 
forest tree, but by every fiower and blade of grass: in fact 

Ey all the individuals of the vegetable world. All are at 
7ork, and what is more to the purpose, usefully employed. 



THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. • 55 

Many plants are well known to be valuable as sources of\ 
food and medicine ; and doubtless others exist around us j 
which are equally valuable, although at present the reason ' 
OF THEIR CREATION is not SO apparent. One thing; is^ l^ar, 
thatjhere is no such a thing in Mature as a,i Llant whjjoli is 
perfectly useles s. Even weeds develope habits of care and 
industry, which are called into exercise in effecting their 
extirpation; in addition to this, they undoubtedly perform 
their allotted task in the great laboratory of Nature, and 
are the instruments by means of which nutritive matter is 
extracted from the passing wind and the falling rain-drop, 
which they deliver to the soil on which they finally decay. 
A weed is, properly speaking, a plant out of place. Any 
plant may become a weed if it is allowed to multiply to an 
unreasonable extent, so as to prevent the growth of other 
plants which it is desirable to cultivate. 

I have spoken of the lessons of industry taught by the 
vegetable world, but — the reader must pardon the digres- 
sion — even the lifeless elements, the winds and waters, 
what are these but the great labor- forces of Nature ? Those 
clouds must be brought from yonder ocean to water this 
thirsty landscape; these rocks must be pulverized and con- 
verted into fruitful soils ; the winds that wander by you, 
reader, are engaged in the discharge of these duties. See 
the ocean at work, battering down the rocks along the 
sea-shore ; and the rivers at work, transporting the mate- 
rials of hills and mountains to the ocean. It is thus, after 
myriads of ages, that the land and sea are made to change 
places. " The sea," says Sir John Ilerschel, "is constantly 
beating on the land, grinding it down, and scattering its 
worn-oif particles and fragments, in the state of mud and 
pebbles, over its bed. Geological facts afford abundant 
proof that the existing continents have all of them under- 
gone this process, even more than once, and been entirely 
torn in fragments, or reduced to powder, and submerged 
and reconstructed." All this work is done by the winds 
and waters. 

Surely in such a world, all labor directed to useful pur- 
poses is honorable employment, and renders the laborer 



56 THE INNER ORGANIZATION OF TREES. 

respectable. Can any position be more false, unnatural, 

I and ruinous in its tendencies, than one founded on the 
doctrine tliat labor is degrading? Yet the majority of men 
are making it the business of their lives to render them- 
selves and their children independent ! Independent of 
what ? ]^ot of labor, surely. Riches are very uncertain 
possessions. Better bring up children to a regular busi- 
ness, even if you have wealth to leave them. Let them be 
early taught to work. Then they will be more likely to 
live long and happily, and to maintain that position in 
society to which your industry has elevated them. 

Every person in good health ought to employ his powers. 
Labor is ennobling. It is the sure road to a high and 
honorable career. All the great men of ancient and modern 
times have acquired distinction through labor. Demos- 
thenes and Newton acquired their imperishable renown in 
this manner. In a letter to one of his friends, Newton 
says, " If I have done the public any service, it is due to 
nothing but industry and patient thought." It is the idle 
I man alone who degrades himself. He lives in the habitual 
violation of a great natural law, and becomes enervated 
both in body and mind. It may be that he is possessed of 
all the appliances of wealth and modern civilization, yet he 
lives wretchedly and is cursed with ennui. Where is the 
flashing eye, the light elastic footstep attendant on useful, 
agreeable, and profitable employment? You might be sur- 
rounded by the creations of your own genius, with the ad- 
vantages which you have at your command, if you pos- 
sessed any nobility or energy of soul. You are miserable, 
because you are idle — a jarring string amid the surround- 
ing harmonies of industrious nature. Everj'thing about 
you is a rebuke on your conduct. All nature cries shame 
on your idleness. You ought to blush to look at the 
flowers of the field, the blades of grass, or those monu- 
ments of leaf-industry, the trees, in all their endlessly 
diversified varieties of architecture. It is impossible for 
any family to continue pre-eminent in a community, unless, 
along with the wealth which they receive is transmitted the 
[industry and life-energy of their ancestors. 



THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 57 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE TREE IS CONSTRUCTED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF A CONE. ITS 
LEAVES ARE THE SOURCES WHENCE PROCEED THE FORMATIVE 
MATERIAL USED IN THE BUILDING UP OF ITS STEM AND 
BRANCHES, WHICH IS DISTRIBUTED AMONGST THEM AFTER A 
COMMON LAW. 

If we look at the stem and branches of a tree in winter, 
when it is deprived of its leaves, we shall see at once that it 
is constructed on the principle of a cone ; for the main axis 
or stem of the tree is broadest at its base, and gradually.de- 
creases in thickness toward the extremities of its branches. 
Any branch is, in the place where a side branch originates, 
stronger than the last at its base, so also this side branch is 
stronger than the branchlet which it produces, and in this 
manner the thickness of the stem or principal axis steps, as 
it were, aw^ay by degrees from branch to branch, until at 
length it loses itself in the fine branches of the youngest 
generation of shoots. It is well known that the cone is 
the stablest structure in nature, and the tree may be re- 
garded as an arborescent cone. 

It was shown on page 38, that the stem of a young beech 
tree exhibits, on the cross-section, a number of con centri- 
cal and almost circular beds or layers of wood ensheathing 
one another about a common centre, which is occupied by 
a canal of medulla or pith, the whole being covered by the 
bark formed on the exterior of the stem. The longitudinal 
section, on the contrary, shows that the stem is composed of 
a series of superposed, and hollow, elongated cones, the old 
conical layers or growths of the last and previous seasons 
constituting a firm foundation for the new conical layers 
of the next and succeeding years. Through the whole of 
these cones the pith penetrates as a continuous cylinder. 

The conical growth of the tree is the result of the conical 
formation of the first year's shoot, which is the foundation 



58 THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 

of the subsequent annual additions of wood and bark ; for 
as these are deposited in strata, which lie parallel with the 
wood and bark of the first year's shoot, the conical form 
of the superposed layers is necessarily retained. 

Growth in length and growth in thickness must there- 
fore be hereafter regarded, not as two different factors, but 
as the result of one and the same vegetative cause, viz., 
the formation each year of a new conical layer or enve- 
loping mantle of wood and bark, which extends from the 
top to the bottom of the tree. In order to make clear the 
connection which subsists between these two contempora- 
neous acts of growth, we shall leave the bark out of con- 
sideration for the present, and confine ourselves to the 
wood as the peculiar variable part, and that which princi- 
pally determines the thickening of the entire axis. 

The annexed figure represents an ideal longitudinal 
view of the primary and secondary axes of the beech 
branch already prefigured and described in Chapter 11, 
and is intended to illustrate the nature of conical growths, 
and the connection which subsists between the axis and 
its ramifications. 

It is quite plain that, as each new cone developes from 
the terminal bud which is situated at the summit of the 
previous year's cone, the sets of bud-rings which are visi- 
ble on the exterior bark of the young stems and branches 
of trees, and which mark the growth of each year, must 
correspond respectively with the summits of each indi- 
vidual of the superposed series of cones ; and that, as 
these cones are formed by the leaves of each year, their 
summits rise above one another according to the greater 
or less amount of vital activity of the leaves during the sea- 
son of growth. Hence, figures '53 point out the summit of 
the first and innermost cone, which corresponds exactly 
with the position on the exterior bark of the first set of bud- 
rings. It is the same with the tops of the other enveloping 
cones marked '54, '55, '56, and '57. The figures indicate 
not only the tops of the cones, but, at the same time, the 
place of the annular scars left by the bud-scales on the bark. 

Hence, in order to estimate the age of an axis from a given 



1S5S- 




60 THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 

point taken below the terminal bud, it is only necessary to 
count the number of sets of bud-rings on the exterior bark, 
or of years' rings visible in the wood on the cross-section 
of the axis, as both numbers will be found to correspond 
invariably with each other. To make this plain to the 
reader, the diagram shows not only the relative position 
and number of the several conical growths, but their re- 
spective lengths and breadths at the same time, the latter 
being visible at the bottom of the diagram in the form of 
a corresponding number of circular and concentric woody 
layers or strata. 

The following simple geometrical consideration will, we 
hope, aid the reader in obtaining an approach to a proper 
conception of the relation subsisting between growth in 
length and increase in breadth among the branches of trees. 
If he regards the diagram attentively for a few moments, 
he will see that the two sides of the innermost cone, esti- 
mated from the point immediately below the terminal bud 
marked '53, form, with the diameter or breadth of the cone 
at its base, an isosceles triangle. Now, supposing the base 
of this triangle to remain constant and its two sides to vary, 
it is plain that the angle of acumination formed at the apex 
of the triangle will be a function of its sides, for this angle 
will become greater or smaller, in proportion as we suppose 
the apex of the triangle to approach to or recede from its 
base, and its two sides to shorten or elongate. For the 
shorter and more abbreviated the axis of the cone, the more 
relatively enlarged is its base, and the more clearly is it 
conical; but the more its axis is lengthened, so much the 
more do the two sides of the cone approach to a state of 
parallelism, and the axis tend to a cylindrical form. 

These considerations prove that the following law will ex- 
press the relation subsisting between the two dimensions of 
length and breadth ; the branches are more cylindrical the long- 
er they are, and more conical in 'proportion as they are shorter. 

As examples of well-marked conical growth we may men- 
tion those extremely abbreviated, ormoreproperly speaking, 
abortive shoots, called thorns, of which {Crataegus crus-galli) 
the Cockspur thorn furnishes us with an admirable instance. 



THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 61 

In the case of {Salix Bahylonicd) tlie Weeping Willow, on 
the contrary, we have an instance of branches which tend 
more to a cylindrical than to a conical form. In consequence 
of this peculiarity, the branches of this tree are long and 
pendulous, their waterfall-like curvature is extremely 
graceful, and, as they wave backward and forward in the 
wind, the tree presents one of the most beautiful and pic- 
turesque of objects. 

But the conical growth of trees is sometimes strikingly ap- 
parent in their landscape character, or general outline when 
viewed from a distance. This is the case in the great Natural 
Order, Conifcrae. The trees belonging to this order such as 
[Juniperus communis) the common Juniper, (Juniperus Vir- 
giniana) the Red Cedar, and the different species of Fir and 
Pine, when seen from a distance, are clearly conical in their 
outline. This, in fact, is more or less the original form of all 
trees in the first stages of their development. For, at first, 
growth takes place principally in the direction of the leading 
axis or stem, and the growth of the branches is consequently 
greatly restricted ; but after a certain number of years, the 
stem obtains its maximum elevation, and growth is diverted 
to the branches. The tree then loses its conical form and 
begins to spread out on all sides, forming, as in the case of 
the Linden and Elm, a magnificent dome or crown. In the 
Coniferse, however, development is not carried so far, and 
the tree still retains its cone-like appearance through all 
the stages of its life. For this reason, as well on account 
of the simplicity of their flowers, these trees may be con- 
sidered of a low order of organization. 

The leaves of the tree are the true sources whence pro- 
ceeds the elaborated formative material used in thebuildina: 
up of its stem and branches. ISTow, this law is plainly ap- 
parent in the single axis, the structure of which depends 
on the manner in which the phytons are superposed and 
combined, and in the peculiar arrangement of the vascular 
bundles below them. The phytons which produce the 
single axis are arranged spirally around the axis in accord- 
ance with laws peculiar to each species. 

This spiral disposition of the leaves is a provision for se- 



62 THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 

curing the symmetrical arrangement of the branches which 
proceed from the buds in their axillae, and the uniform de- 
position of the nourishing matter which proceeds from them 
around the axis. For as the wood is formed by the leaves, 
when these are placed in regular order over every part of 
the circumference of the axis, as in the Elm, the Beech, and 
the Linden, the branches and shoots are cylindrical; for 
the woody matter formed by the leaves is then distributed 
equally on all sides. On the contrary, when the leaves on 
the stem and branches are opposite, the pairs being placed 
at right-angles to each other, as in the Spindle tree and 
Maple, the descent of nourishing matter from the leaves 
is necessarily limited to that portion of the stem imme- 
diately below them, and consequently the young shoots 
and branches of these trees are square. 

llTot only the form of the single axis, but also the extent 
to which it is developed, depends on the leaves ; for when 
their vital activity is enfeebled, no internodes or naked in- 
tervals of stem are formed between them, the axis is redu- 
ced to a rudimentary condition, and they become crowded 
together into little clusters. If the growth of the axis is 
thus arrested, year after year, it may increase in length 
slowly; but there is no increase in its breadth or thickness. 
A Beech branch now lies on the table before me, and I find 
that one of its side branches, which is only twelve inches in 
length, is nevertheless thirty years old, and yet it is not 
any thicker than one of the young terminal shoots of the 
same branch, which has grown nearly as much in a single 
year. 

Hence, it will be found that in proportion as the length 
of an axis increases or decreases from year to year, in the 
same proportion is there a corresponding amount of in- 
crease or decrease in the breadth of the wood-rings visible 
on the cross-section. In order to verify this truth, it is 
necessary to select branches, the leaves of whose side axes 
are annually put forth as leaf-clusters, and which therefore 
take a minimum of development, and exercise the smallest 
possible amount of physiological influence on the branch, 
and where powerful growths are suddenly succeeded by 



THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 63 

growths greatly retarded. One such branch now lies be- 
fore me, whose principal axis is eighteen inches long, and 
whose side axes have taken a minimum of development. 

It grew the first three years five inches annually, or alto- 
gether fifteen inches ; but in the last four years the growth 
stagnated, or averaged only nine lines annually; and the 
cross-section of the branch actually shows the three inner 
rings or woody layers, formed by the leaves of the first 
three years, to be much broader than the four outer rings, 
the leaf deposits of the last four years. 

The same relation between the breadth of the wood-rings 
annually formed, and the extent to which the main axis is 
developed, will still continue to subsist even after the side 
axes have grown to some considerable extent, provided 
their growth is accelerated or falls back together with that 
of the principal axis. If the reader will refer to Figure 2, 
he will see thatthe primary axis made a considerable growth 
the first three years, or between 1852 and 1855, and that 
from 1855 to 1856, the growth of the axis received a re- 
markable check, the vegetation of the side axes being re- 
tarded at the same time. Now, let him look at the rings 
or breadths of the respective cones annually formed, which 
are represented in the cross-section of the axis at the bot- 
tom of the diagram, and he will see that the wood-ring or 
conical stratum of woody matter deposited the fourth year, 
is much narrower than the other rings. 

It is not, however, always the case in a system of axes, 
that the growth of the primary and secondary axes advances 
or falls back together. It not unfrequently happens that 
the growth of the primary axis is retarded, whilst at the 
same time some of the secondary axes make considerable 
headway. Hence, when the primary axis puts forth one 
or more generations of side-shoots, the growth of each 
must be taken into consideration in estimating the amount 
of wood formed by the leaves. A Beech branch, for ex- 
ample, eighteen inches long and nineteen years old, shows 
on the transverse section of its wood, from within to with- 
out, sixteen narrow and then three broad rings. These 
breadths of the wood-rings do not correspond with the sue- 



64 THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 

cessive aunual growths in lengtli made by the principal 
axis ; for in this case quite another result is obtained, that 
axis having hardly grown at all after the sixteenth year. 
The three broad wood-rings last formed must therefore 
have derived their matter from the branches, and we find 
on examining the side axes, which are thirty-three in 
number, that eleven of them, formed the last three years, 
are the most developed ; to these is therefore to be attri- 
buted the three broad w^ood-rings. 

The above investigations would seem to lead irresistibly 
to the conclusion, that the breadth of the wood-rings is 
determined not only by the activity of the leaves of the 
terminal shoot of the axis, but that the leaves of the side 
axes, or of the whole system of axes, co-operate, and there- 
fore that the leafage of each season forms a common source, 
whence is derived not only the nutriment forming the new 
layer or covering of each individual branch or system of 
axes, but of the main axis or support of the whole of them 
— the stem. For not only each leaf, but each twig, branch- 
let, and branch contributes its part, during the season of 
vegetative activity, to the formation of this new conical 
layer or woody mantle, with which the tree is annually re- 
clothed from the tops of its branches to the extremities of 
its roots, — a new garment of unity, so to speak. 

A clear conception of the entire process of this annual 
renovation, can only be obtained by giving due prominence 
to the fact, that the growth and life of the tree after the 
first year is entirely superficial, and totally confined to the 
forming stratum of new bark and wood. The bark and 
wood-cells constituting the growth of each year, die when 
their vital activity ceases in the Fall. There is no renewal 
of their life on the return of Spring ; for, as we have al- 
ready stated on page 44, " So soon as a cell ceases to form 
new cells, or to develope and carry nourishing matter, so 
soon as its fluid contents disappear and it becomes filled 
with air, it maybe considered as dead." ]^ow, this is pre- 
cisely the condition of the duct-cells, and to a certain ex- 
tent of the fibre-cells, at the end of the first year. They 
are fully formed the first year, and when the life of the 



THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES, 65 

tree is reawakened in the Spring of the next year, they no 
longer grow, or assimilate formative material. They are 
dead, rigid, unyielding. For the sap is drawn away from 
these old and full-grown tissues, by the young and newly- 
forming stratum of bark and w^ood, and although its flow 
through the finer capillary vessels of the fibre-cells may 
be again renewed, — this flow arises from causes purely me- 
chanical, — there is no assimilation of formative material. 
In fact, the only change that takes place in the fibre-cells 
after the first year, is the gradual filling up of their cavi- 
ties by deposits of lignino or earthy matter, whilst the duct- 
cells, being devoid of sap, after the first year are never 
filled up, as inspection plainly shows. 

Let the reader again refer to the diagram, which shows, 
not only the conical growth of the primary axis of the branch, 
but also the conical growths of its secondary and tertiary 
axes, or branchlets and twigs, and how they are connected 
with the primarj^ axis. Commencing with the first, second, 
or third ring from the outside, which form the foundation of 
three successive conical deposits, and tracing them upward 
over the summits of each branch and branchlet, he will find 
that each forms a continuous and unbroken bedof woodj'^ 
matter ; and he will easily understand, when the tree grows 
again in spring (if we suppose the thick exterior and 
bounding line of the diagram to represent the newly-form- 
ing stratum of bark and wood-cells), how, from diflerent 
points of the surface newly-forming on the last year's 
branches and branchlets, fresh shoots may be pushed 
forth. It is thus, as the tree continues to grow, that a 
series of new and more extensive communications are 
annually opened with that grand reservoir of vegetable 
food, the atmosphere ; and the newly-deposited living 
stratum is just as continuous as that of former years, and 
its life passes away with the falling of the leaves. For it is 
the leaves which are the source of the formative material 
which proceeds from them to the shoots, from the shoots to 
the branchlets, and from the branchlets to the branches, 
whose union forms the main stem of the tree, just as a 
thousand little streamlets, descending from mountain and 



66 THE CONICAL GROWTH OF TREES. 

hill, pour together their tributary waters, which, united, 
form the broad river which rolls on to the ocean. 

But, although the number of leaves of the whole tree, as 
of each branch, from year to year continues to increase, 
yet the thickness of the conical layers, after a certain point 
of time in the development of the main axis or stem, as 
regularly diminishes. The cause of this decrease in the 
breadth of the wood-rings arises from the fact, that the 
surface of the enveloping cones continually increases as 
the tree gets older, so that the formative material, from 
the leaves, is spread over a more and more extended area. 
ISTow, up to a certain period in the life of the tree, the in- 
crease of leaf-surface in the atmosphere keeps pace with the 
gradually increasing surface of the cones, and this produces 
that uniformity of breadth which characterizes the wood- 
rings formed each season ; but, when the main stem and 
branches of the tree approach the maximum of their deve- 
lopment, owing to the diminished vital activity of the leaves, 
less woody matter is formed, which still continues to be 
spread over a constantly increasing extent of conical sur- 
face ; hence the thickness of the woody strata gradually 
diminishes as the tree draws nearer to the limit of its life. 

It is thus that, in the course of centuries, solid and en- 
during vegetable monuments are reared ; trees which out- 
live the successive generations of man — broad at the base 
and tapering to the extremities. Nature builds on the 
conical principle to insure their stability ; and the dark 
and sombre forests of oak, pine, and fir, which clothe the 
sides of mountain, whose summits rise above the snow- 
line, are constructed on the same architectural principles 
as the mountains themselves ; for the avalanche loosening 
from its mountain heights, and coming down with an ac- 
celerated rush into the subjacent valleys, and the leaf 
falling from the tree, are both detached from cones. Such 
is the beauty, simplicity, and grandeur of the works of 
Nature ! 

Reader, startle not at the boldness of this language. It 
is strictly true. Great and little are but relative terms, 
distinctions made by finite and imperfect minds. Sir 



THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY. 67 

John Herscliel, in his admirable " Preliminary Discourse 
on the Study of Natural Philosophy," says, page 173 : — 
" The student who makes any progress in the study of 
natural philosophy will encounter numberless cases in 
which this transfer of ideas from one extreme of magni- 
tude to the other is called for. He will find, for instance, 
the phenomena of the propagation of winds referred to 
the same laws which regulate the propagation of motion 
through the smallest masses of air ; those of lightning as- 
similated to the mere communication of an electric spark, 
and those of earthquakes to the vibrations of a stretched 
wire. In short, he must lay his account to finding the dis- 
tinctions of great and little altogether annihilated in na- 
ture." 



CHAPTER V. 



THOSE NATURAL CAUSES WHICH PRODUCE THE INEQUALITY IN 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRANCHES AND BUDS OF A TREE, 
ILLUSTRATE CLEARLY THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND 
SUBORDINATION IN CIVILIZED COMMUNITIES. 

When we see defined against the clear, cold winter's 
heaven, the leafless branches and branchlets of a tree, it 
is hardly possible to imagine anything which is apparently 
80 chaotic and irregular. 

There are branches and twigs of all possible degrees of 
growth, mingled together without any apparent order. It 
is a complete labyrinth of ramification — an inextricable 
maze, perplexing and without a charm. Yet there is no- 
thing even here that is random or confused. Everything 
about a tree is constructed according to plan and system. 
Even this apparent chaos of branches, with their innume- 
rable branchlets and twigs, is no exception. 

If we would obtain a clear and satisfactory perception 
of the causes which have produced all this infinite variety 
of ramification, and trace out plan and system in every twig, 
branchlet, and branch, we must go back to first principles. 
We must study the tree in the earlier periods of its life— 



68 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

in the lower stages of its development ; we must go back 
to the first year's growth. The unequal development of 
the shoots from the sides and summits of the primary 
vegetable cone, is the cause of a subsequent inequality, 
which has gone on increasing with the growth and life of 
the tree. The branches were, the first year, all equally 
feeble and powerless ; sheltered beneath the covering 
leaves, which kept watchful sentinel over the growing 
points of the first year's shoot, through many a cold and 
dreary winter's day and still more stormy night. Then 
came spring, warm and welcome. The sentinel leaves 
were removed from the post of duty, the new leaves and 
shoots were unfolded from the buds. But from the very 
first there is the same principle of subordination as clearly 
apparent among the shoots as amongst the leaves. Just 
as the sap, elaborated in the lower leaves of the first shoot, 
contributed to the formation of the upper leaves, so the 
inferior buds either remain sterile or unfold simply as un- 
branched shoots or leaf-clusters, because they are subordi- 
nate to the development of the upper buds which attract 
the sap away from them. The most considerable growths 
or shoots are therefore made by the bud at the summit of 
the first year's shoot and the side-buds situated in imme- 
diate neighborhood. It is plain that all the buds of the 
first year's shoot are equally exposed to the air and the 
sun's influence. The inequality in their development must 
therefore originate in a principle of subordination and sub- 
serviency in the lower leaf-buds to the upper ones. 

Now, these peculiarly abbreviated forms of the shoot 
play an important part in the building up of the tree-form. 
All the little twigs which fill up the space between the 
larger branches, and which are so plainly visible when they 
are deprived of their leaf ornaments, have proceeded from 
buds which take a minimum of development, and unfold 
year after year simply as leaf-clusters. There is no side 
production. On the contrary, the whole of the vital energy 
of the leaves is expended in the formation of the enlarged 
terminal bud, and in supplying the upper and more deve- 
loped shoots and branches with sap. 



AND SUBORDINATION. 69 

The leaf-clusters wliicli form tliose rudimentary shoots 
give a marked character to the foliage of trees. Not only 
are the Pines indebted to them for the green clothing 
which covers their branches, but they fill up and relieve 
the (comparatively speaking) naked intervals of stem, be- 
tween the more powerfully developed branches, with foli- 
age. The Beech, Cherry, Linden, and Hazel, especially 
derive their thick leaf drapery from the copious develop- 
ment of these leaf-clusters or rudimentary side-shoots ; 
and the light and slenderly clad leafage, so characteristic 
of the Birch, is to be attributed to their early decay and 
removal from the stem and branches. They appear to be 
entirely absent from the Willow. 

These rudimentary shoots may continue at a minimum of 
development, and (as in the Beech and Cherry) for ten, 
twelve, or even twenty years, unfold leaf-clusters from their 
terminal bud. But when the growth of a branch stagnates 
in this manner, its life must be necessarily greatly abbrevia- 
ted. Sooner or later itgradually pines and dies ; theterminal 
bud at last ceasing to have the power to unfold itself. The 
dead twigs are then removed by the wind or other natural 
agents, and leave behind them those naked intervals of stem 
visible between the main branches. 

Hence, the peculiarly whorled appearance which bran- 
ches present on the main axis or stem, which is so well 
marked on some trees, that an experienced woodman can 
approximate in some measure to a correct estimate of their 
age, when he views them from a distance, by counting the 
intervals of uubranched stem between the several whorls of 
branches. 

The same inequality in the development of the shoots may 
be traced also, to some extent, on the main side axes or 
branches, and is to be attributed to the same cause, viz. : 
the development of the upper buds into shoots, and the 
unfolding of the lower buds into leaf-clusters ; but as the 
branches and branchlets are necessarily younger than the 
main axis or stem with which they are connected, the work 
of removal has not progressed to the same extent, and the 
dead, as well as the living twigs, still fill up the intervals 



70 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

which separate the more powerfully developed shoots and 
branches from each other. 

The struggle for superiority then commences with the 
second year's growth. It is at this time that all the branches 
make the same start in life. At the close of the second year, 
the upperbuds developed from the axilloeofthe upper leaves, 
have produced shoots, the lower only leaf-clusters ; the for- 
mer have therefore got considerably ahead of the latter, du- 
ring the same period of time. An inequality has been gene- 
rated, which increases more and more every year. The third 
year, the terminal bud of the lower shoots unfolds again as 
a leaf-cluster; but the upper shoots become mother shoots, 
developing from the buds, at their sides and summits, other 
shoots like themselves. It is thus they continue progressing 
from year to year, until they ultimately become those power- 
ful branches which form, as it were, the prop or scaflblding 
of the crown or spreading top, and no inconsiderable part 
of the entire tree itself. 

The lower buds, on the contrary, developed from the 
axillae of the lower leaves, make no headway, but continue 
in the same fix, year after year, pining in poverty and in- 
activity. There is no difficulty in finding any quantity of 
such miserable starveling shoots on the branches of the 
Beech, the Horse-Chestnut, the Apple, and other trees. 
The current of sap is drawn away from them by the upper 
and more powerful branches, and there is not a particle of 
chance left for them except in the excision or death of the 
upper branches. 

We have seen that the tree, during the first year of its life, 
has only a poor chance of progress, on account of the few 
leaves which it has at work in the air, and that, when it has 
arrived at the stage of development prefigured by one of its 
branches, it possesses amuch greater amount of vitally act- 
ive leaf-surface, and consequently its growth becomes more 
rapid, and its chances of arriving at maturity multiplied a 
thousandfold. Now, the same relative condition of things 
exists between these pitiful twigs and powerful branches, 
with reference to their respective means of obtaining food, 
as existed between the tree and nature during the first year 



AND SUBORDINATION. 71 

of its life, and again at tlie end of twenty or thirty years. 
What chance have simple shoots with a few leaves, the 
normal growth of one year against powerful branches which 
are, it may be, the growth of centuries, which put forth a 
hundred shoots, like themselves, from their sides and sum- 
mit, the leaves of which are all subservient to their deve- 
lopment ? It is plain that inequality of condition, once en- 
gendered, has a tendency to go on increasing, and that 
the shoots and branches of a tree, when once ahead, ar^ 
very apt to keep ahead. > 

And is there nothing analogous to this in the social worloT 
Is not the whole framework of our present social system/^^ 
founded on the eternally unchangeable law of the subor- 
dination and subserviency of one human organism to 
another? In order to be happy, man mustjje free to d e- 
velope himsel f. But individual freedom must necessarily 
generate inequality so long as one human organism has 
more life-energy than another. We see the results of this 
inequality of natural gift in a common school, where all are 
placed in the same circumstances and on an equal footing. 
What a remarkable difference in the aptness of boys for 
particular branches of study ! With what rapidity and 
apparent ease some get through the tasks allotted them ! 
How slow and wearisome the progress made, by others ! 
Undoubtedly the diligent and attentive student is generally, 
at the end of the term, the most advanced in his class. But 
even in a well-regulated school, where industrious habits 
are carefully cultivated, where the strictest discipline is 
rigidly enforced, and where all are not only expected but 
actually made to study, there is the same variety in the 
natural capacities of the scholars — the same striking diver- 
sity in their intellectual progress. When reference is made 
to the standing of each at the commencement and then at 
the close of the session, some boj^s have got far ahead of 
the others in the same branch, notwithstanding those wdio • 
have had the misfortune to fall back in their class, have not 
unfrequently received the greatest share of the time and 
attention of their teacher. Thus, notwithstanding the oft- 
cited saying of Euclid, " There is no royal road to learn- 



72 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

ing," it is undeniable that there is such a thing as an 
innate or natural intellectual and moral superiority of ca- 
pacity possessed by one man over another. 

Now -what takes place in a school, in a small way, is 
only carried out on a grander scale in the great school of 
the world. Bat here, from the commencement, the most 
talented are usually the least favored by fortune. They 
enter on the active duties of life under great pecuniary 
disadvantages ; but superior ability and energy will as- 
suredly, sooner or later, give them pre-eminence. It is 
not long that the contest remains doubtful. Nothing can 
withstand their onward progress. In vain you try to keep 
them down. As well might a fly attempt to stop the ad- 
vance of the mail train from Washington. Enterprising 
business men soon learn to know and esteem each other. 
There is a congeniality of disposition which inspires mu- 
tual confidence. It is then that capital combines with 
capital. Contracts are made, and the most extensive 
public works are executed. Banking establishments are 
carried on all over the country ; they gain the almost un- 
limited confidence of the community. It is thus that com- 
mercial power is slowly and surely accumulated, until 
finally merchant princes become a stern reality. Yet 
every enterprise, great or small, has its master-spirit — the 
main axis or stem from which the lesser branches proceed ; 
for the laws of nature remain invariably the same. Men 
will pay homage to merit. They ever will cheerfully sub- 
ordinate themselves to superior ability. 

Nothing, therefore, can be more erroneous than the idea 
that, in order to preserve the present system of inequality, 
it is necessary to keep a certain portion of the human race 
in ignorance. This is very bad policy, as well as a viola- 
tion of the natural rights of man. Let us look at the tree 
again ; for nature is best interpreted by a reference to na- 
ture. We have, in every tree, a deeply interesting and in- 
structive combination of industrial forces which illustrates 
clearly a perfect system of mutual dependency and subor- 
dination. No part of the tree is unemployed or unimpor- 
tant. The poorest branch and bud-scales, stipule and 



AND SUBORDINATION. 73 

starveling shoot, as well as the powerful branch with its 
innumerable branchlets, rich in sap and luxuriant in foli- 
age, have helped to build up that, tree. Each has labored 
to the extent of its capacity, and has done some good to the 
community, although it may be only a little. 

In like manner it is for the interest of society that all 
the varied talents of its individual members should be 
called forth and employed. Some authors have written 
on human perfectibility, as if all men could be made phi- 
losophers, statesmen, orators, poets, &c. But this is con- 
trary to all analogy. Among all the forms of life, there 
is variety in the degree of development, and man is no 
exception. All men are subject to the same general laws, 
yet it is undeniable that there is an individuality about 
each, and that their mental capabilities and dispositions 
are as dissimilar as their faces. Life, in fact, is but the un- 
folding of the peculiar laws of the individual organism. 

As we progress in science and civilization, more and 
more of this individual talent will be evolved. Any in- 
stitutions which are calculated to call it forth, are a bless- 
ing to the world. They ought to be encouraged. The men 
who found them will live in the memory of mankind. 
Hence, Public Schools, Lyceums of Natural History, and 
such institutions as have for their object the dissemination 
of knowledge amongst the people, are all movements in 
the right direction. Let the fountains of knowledge be 
made as j)ublic as possible, so that all may drink freely. 
Let the healing streams be circulated in all directions, 
until they impart their treasures to every destitute locality ; 
for it is certain that there is no man, however poorly gifted, 
who may not be made a useful citizen if those gifts are 
properly cultivated. 

It is not possible that the community should be disturbed 
in its present social relations by this generous diftusion of 
information. Depend upon it, inequality of condition is 
an eternal, unchangeable law of nature. It does not admit 
of a doubt, that some men are much more richly endowed 
with native talent and energy than others, and these will 
always be the leading branches in the social tree ; others 



74 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

must and will naturally take an inferior and subordinate 
position. But the branch, if it grows for centuries, will 
never equal the entire tree in size, and the branchlet must 
ever continue smaller than the branch. For each has its 
own limit of growth prescribed by ISTature, according to a 
morphological law which it cannot pass, even under the 
most favorable circumstances, and by means of which each 
is rendered subservient to the growth of the other. So, if 
we suppose all to have the advantages of a liberal educa- 
tion, the variety of gift and intellectual capacity amongst 
mankind will still remain unchangeably the same, and 
therefore their social position with reference to each other. 
There will, however, be this important advantage gained; 
each will be rendered more capable of discharging the 
duties of that position in life in which it has pleased Pro- 
vidence to place them ; and thus the whole community will 
be benefited by the prosperity of its individual members. 
It has been proved that there will ever be subordination. 
But as man is naturally a selfish being, blind submission 
to superior talent and energy is not to be thought of for a 
moment. It has been well said that " History is Philoso- 
phy teaching by example ;" now, History teaches most 
impressively the social evils which were formerly pro- 
duced by a monopoly of religious and political power. Is 
it possible to imagine any religious tyranny more execrable 
than that which existed before the Reformation ? Priests 
were then the jailors of the human mind ; they wielded 
powers so enormous, that the greatest monarchs of the 
earth trembled before them. When first attacked, terrible 
were the struggles of this religious despotism ! What brute 
force was employed ! What disgraceful and cruel persecu- 
tions ! Who originated the Inquisition, with its hellish 
tortures, and dungeons with walls built purposely thick 
to deaden the shrieks of sufltering men and women ? 
The philosopher Copernicus withholding his discoveries 
through terror of this tyranny, during his lifetime, from 
mankind, and only consenting to their publication on his 
death-bed ! And the venerable Galileo imprisoned and 
compelled to adjure as errors, what are now known to be 



AND SUBORDINATION. 75 

truths! Religious liberty ! at what an immense sacrifice 
of life has this precious element of human happiness 
been purchased! Happily, the monopoly of religious 
power has been broken down, and the utmost diversity of 
religious belief now prevails. The claims of different op- 
posing religious sects are carefully examined, and men are 
becoming daily more tolerant and less fanatic. 

Not less instructive is History in reference to that mono- 
poly of political power which formerly prevailed. What 
numberless calamities has it showered down on the human 
race ! There was a time when the people were inherited 
like sheep, when they had no significance as individuals. 
The interests of the most industrious and useful portion of 
mankind were staked in perpetual games of war, in order 
to build up the family of the king of the country, and bring 
new territories under his yoke. But after awhile the wealth 
produced by the toiling masses, began to be so important 
to the comfort and enterprises undertaken by these fight- 
ing monarchs, that they were forced gradually to concede 
them a certain degree of political liberty which they had 
not previously enjoyed. The grand idea of human rights 
now forced its way into despotisms, and then came the 
fierce struggle for political freedom, and on many a battle- 
field patriotic blood was poured forth like water, — the best 
and bravest of the human race expired. At last it was con- 
ceded that the people had rights and liberties which must 
be respected: that government exists for the benefit of the 
people, and not the people for the benefit of the govern- 
ment. That nations are the masters of their own destinies. 
And now on this continent we have the glorious spectacle 
of a people governed by one of their own choice, and yet 
progressing in science and civilization. 

Political and religious liberty has been obtained ; but 
human nature has not changed, and there still exist among 
us the same tendencies to the despotism of bygone ages. 
It is well known that there is a class of men in our midst, 
who want to do our religious thinking for us as in former 
times ; and it is also well known that there are those who 
would abridge popular liberty, who are ever seeking to re- 



76 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

cover lost political influence. These powers are extending 
themselves secretly in all directions, struggling fiercely for 
pre-eminence. Man has broken his chains, he has escaped 
from his dungeon, and every effort is now made to effect his 
recapture. lie will not let us think for him now. He con- 
siders that he is quite capable of thinking for himself. He 
considers that he is at perfect liberty to have an opinion or 
belief of his own, uncontrolled by any other man or set of 
men. Such is the language of the foe, as treacherous, 
despotic, cruel, and unyielding as ever, whose power origi- 
nated solely in the ignorance and darkness of former ages. 
Man is no longer a poor degraded captive, devoid of great- 
ness of soul, of reason, and of virtue. He is free now ! He 
loves science, and nature, and truth ! Is he going to sur- 
render the precious rights of religious and political liberty, 
purchased by the blood of so many patriots and martyrs ? 
Who are these men who wish to do our religious thinking 
for us ? They (and their ancestors before them, about tvhoni 
they talk so much) are mortal men who sicken and die like 
ourselves, and the probabilities are that they are, one and 
all, just as liable to form erroneous opinions as any other 
men. Religious infallibility on the one hand, and blind 
submission of the understanding on the other — there has 
been already too much of it. Surely, the very remembrance 
of the follies of their fathers, in this respect, has made the 
present generation wiser. Before the light of science and 
true religion* these delusions are passing away like a cloud. 

But the people are interested in putting down tyrannical 
monopolies, not only in religion and government, but in 
commerce. Commercial tyranny is as great a curse as the 
former despotisms in religion and politics which have been 
subjugated. 

Two hundred years ago, war with its interests absorbed 
the attention of mankind ; but now society has completely 
changed it character, and become commercial and industrial 
in its spirit. Strife is therefore transported to this new field ; 
and, as man is still the same fighting animal he ever was, 

* " Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and the prophets." — 'Matt. 7:12. 



AND SUBORDINATION. 77 

it is now a war of industry and all its elements. Property 
is the prize for whieli all are straining their nerves. 

But commercial x^ower accumulated in the hands of any 
one man, or body of men, is ever dangerous to liberty. Who 
does not know that the love of power is natural to man, and 
that he is apt to abuse the confidence that is reposed in him ? 
Man is naturally a selfish being. Men do not change their 
nature when they combine their efforts and become share- 
holders. Merchant princes are no exception. Personal in- 
terest is undoubtedly the moving power of the actions of 
one and all of them. That they confer benefits on the com- 
munity is not denied. Their canvas is swelling on every 
sea, and their merchandise is coming to us from every shore! 
Yet, is the power thus accumulated in the hands of a few 
used only for the good of the many ? Is it not undeniable 
that banking and other extensive establishments are not 
to be trusted ? that they are apt to get a little too much 
ahead? And do not you think, reader, that these leading 
branches in the Social Tree require to be looked after, and 
that a little occasional pruning of them would be a public 
benefit ? 

No man, or body of men can get much ahead in any 
pursuit without retarding the progress of others in the same 
ratio. Every man who commences business in a small way 
knows that he has, in the large capitalist, a dangerous com- 
petitor. And he is quite right. Customers will always go 
to those places where they can get the cheapest and best 
goods. They think it is their interest to do so. Hence, 
they go to the man who has the most money, who can 
better afford to buy in larger quantities than the small 
trader, and who is therefore able to accommodate them 
with better goods at the same or a lower price. It is thus 
that poor men refuse to stand by each other, bow their 
necks to tyrants, and kiss the rod of the oppressor. People 
are attracted to the richly-furnished store ; and, for the 
sake of a temporary advantage, they take their money to 
those who have more than enough, and refuse to patronize 
the small trader. Hence, inequality of condition, once 
engendered, is very apt to go on increasing, until finally 



78 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

we see human forms, members of the same great social 
family, clad in silks and rags — dwelling in hovels and 
palaces ! Now, this is all wrong ! There is no absolute 
necessity for these social disfigurements. They are a disgrace 
to Christianity. They show that our present commercial 
system is not a wisely-ordered one. Starveling shoots ! 
the Social Tree is full of them. Are there not thousands 
of human beings who toil from earliest morn to latest 
night, and never make any headway ? Do they not con- 
tinue in the same fix for life, subservient to the interest of 
a branch which is more developed than themselves ; and 
this branch holds the same relation to some other branch 
for which it has to work? And what is society but a tree, 
an association of branches, where all co-operate in build- 
ing up its structure and in advancing its arts, its sciences, 
and civilization ? You cannot deny the analogy. Yes, 
and there are monopolizing branches which get too much 
sap, and require pruning. For this thing has its foundation 
in Nature, and we must look to Nature for a remedy. Are 
there not men in every community with a superabundance 
of life-energy, whose progress in wealth and in the exten- 
sion of their business relations has been rapid and unex- 
ampled ? There is no end to their reckless and insatiable 
pursuit after wealth ! Combined together, they exercise a 
fearful commercial power. It is these merchant princes 
in combination who are our masters on the battle-ground 
of commerce. They are the men who control the markets, 
who grind down the faces of the poor, who exact at will 
from the consumer ! How beautifully is all this illustrated 
by the branches of a tree ! How faithfully are the laws of 
society there represented even in all their minutire. 

But this is not all ; for there is a social policy plainly 
suggested by the leading branches of the tree, and the con- 
dition of its branchlets and different varieties of shoots, 
which all who occupy an inferior and subordinate position 
in society would do well to study. There is clearly compe- 
tition among the branches of a tree for sap and sunlight, 
and in proportion as the leading branches get ahead, in the 
same proportion is the development of their side-branches 



AND SUBORDINATION. 79 

retarded ; whilst, on the contrary, a considerable growth of 
their side-branches and branchlets is a check on these lead- 
ing branches. 

These facts are strikingly seen in the landscape physiog- 
nomy of certain trees. In the Lombardy Poplar [Populus 
dilatata), the main stem or axis takes a maximum develop- 
ment, and the branches are consequently reduced to a mini- 
mum, so that the whole tree, when viewed from a distance, 
resembles a vast spindle. In other trees, however, such as 
the Ilorse-Chestnut {(Escuhi8 liippocastanum) and the Lin- 
den ( Tilia Americana), the branches make an equally power- 
ful growth with the primary axis or stem, and this prevents 
its elongation. Hence, the main axis or stem is hardly dis- 
tinguishable from the branches. When uninjured by 
storms or artificial pruning, the branches of these trees 
usually spread out equally on all sides, and their top or 
head is dome-shaped or hemispherical. For this reason 
these trees make a fine appearance on a lawn or park, in 
addition to the recommendation of perfect shade which 
they aflbrd. 

Kow this competition amongst the leading branches of 
a tree with their subordinate branchlets and shoots, for sap 
and sunlight, is a truthful illustration of that struggle for 
pre-eminence and for the good things of this life, which is 
perpetually going on through all the ramifications of so- 
ciety. In this respect, rich and poor, employer and em- 
ployed, meet on terms of equality. Both have hard times; 
for there is as much competition amongst the great leading 
branches or master minds of our communities as between 
their subordinates — the branchlets and little twigs; and 
the result is that the man who gives employment to hun- 
dreds of hands and counts his dollars by thousands, is not 
uufrequently as hard pushed to meet his numerous obliga- 
tions as the workman whom he employs. It is the nature 
of man to seek for power, to struggle for pre-eminence in 
the profession or branch of labor to which he devotes him- 
self. This produces competition, and as, from the very 
nature of things, it is impossible that all should be success- 
ful, each physician and lawyer, manufacturer, merchant, 



80 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

and tradesman sees, in all those who are engaged in the 
same occupation, competitors who are dangerous in pro- 
portion to the amount of their success. A social organiza- 
tion in which there shall he co-operation without compe- 
tition is clearly an impossibility. It may form a theme 
for poets and a dream of philanthropy, but as human na- 
ture is at present constituted, it is a state of things which 
can never be realized. A state of warfare ajDpears to be 
the natural state of man. This may be an unpalatable 
truth, but it is far better to give true than false views of 
life. 

It would not be difficult to prove that there is antago- 
nism amongst all the inferior forms of animal life, and 
thus show it to be a universal law of Nature. Even the 
flowers which decorate our fields and forests, are mutually 
opposed to each other. Each has to struggle into exist- 
ence against a host of competitors ; for Nature, although 
she has been prolific of the seeds of life, has limited the 
supply of room and food. Shrubs and trees prevent, by 
the extent of soil which they occupy, the vegetation of spe- 
cies of a humbler growth. Millions of seeds are annually 
produced which never germinate. Borne away from the 
plants which produced them by the winds or waves, they 
fall into situations unfavorable to their growth, or upon a 
soil which is already preoccupied by other plants. A num- 
ber of ferns growing on a hillside, will successfully maintain 
their monopoly of the ground for ages against all other in- 
truders, notwithstanding the facilities afforded to the sur- 
rounding plants for the dispersion of their seeds. If, for 
example, a seed from a neighboring thistle or dandelion 
should fall amongst them, it cannot germinate, because 
they have possession of the ground, absorb all its food in 
the struggle amongst themselves, so that it is impossible 
that any should be afforded for the stranger. 

To man, however, the " Minister and Interpreter of Na- 
ture,"* reason has been given to control those passions 

* "Homo naturre minister et interpres, tantiim facit et intelligit, quantum 
de naturte ordine re vel mente observaverit, nee amplius scit aut potest." — 
Bacon's Novum Organum. 



AVD SUBORDINATION. 81 

and appetites wliicli he has in common with the inferior 
creatures. Although a social organization cannot exist 
without competition, yet it does not necessarily follow 
that we are to oppose each other with the ferocity and 
cruelty of wild beasts. It is the intention of Providence 
that we should seek to ennoble each other by mutual rivalry, 
that the struggle should improve our moral and intellec- 
tual nature. As society advances, /or the world moves on- 
ward, those will be most successful who fight the inevitahle 
battles of life bravely and honorably. Even now the ten- 
dency of the age is to offer increased inducements to a 
meritorious line of action. What is a mere millionaire 
after all ? Frail and perishable mortal, whom men so 
much envy and admire, 3'ou shall not survive the grave ! 
To-day your name is in everybody's mouth ; to-morrow 
you will be forgotten ! Money never rescued any man's 
name from oblivion, unless it was expended so as to bene- 
fit society. Virtue alone is enduring. The mind is the 
noblest part of man. What of the mind of the millionaire ? 
Are these the men Avhose spirits converse with us when their 
bodies have been mouldering in the grave for ages ? Do you 
rank the millionaire with such men as Newton and Frank- 
lin, Clay and Webster, and the venerable Humboldt ? 
These men are not dead ; they live, and they will continue 
to live for ages yet to come. Who remembers the mil- 
lionaire ? Does his picture adorn the poor man's home ? 
,* That which is the most remarkable about a tree, is not 

(only the variety, the perfect harmony, and freedom of its 
individual parts, but that power of centralization by wdiicli 
all these parts are combined together into one harmonious 
whole. That is only a h armonious ordere d whole, whose 
parts are fr ee, and tho se parts are on ly free which unfold 
their pecu liarities subordinate to a common law , and whicl i 
in their independent forms e gualbl-i£^^iiz£_th e idea of J :hc 
whole. In the tree, then, we have presented for contem- 
plation an illustration, clear and beautiful as the unclouded 
sun, of a perfectly natural and equitable social system of 
labor, combining the highest individual freedom with sub- 
ordination. The tree shows us a system of harmoniously 



82 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

adjusted labor, where not only the branch and branchlet, 
but even the little twig, leaf, and leaf-scale are all fully 
employed to the extent of their capacity. Where the in- 
dividual talent of a community is thus fully and iinivcr- 
Isally developed, there must be freedom. 

There always will be individuals pre-eminently gifted, 
but where talent abounds, there is less danger from the 
inherent selfishness of those thus liberally endowed by 
ISTature. Let knowledge be difl'used on the most enlarged 
and liberal scale, and the sceptre of tyrants is broken, the 
throne of delusion crumbles, and individual freedom is 
fully insured. It is impossible for a people, thoroughly 
enlightened, ever to be enslaved ? Tyranny can never 
flourish on the soil of this country. 

In nothing is the supremacy of America so apparent, 
as in the fact that when men of talent, accustomed to 
sway the mind of the ignorant masses in Europe, are 
exiled to these shores, they have to settle down here after 
awhile as ordinary men. America extends to them a hos- 
pitable welcome, but because they have come to a " free 
country," they cannot monopolize, for any length of time, 
any exorbitant share of popular attention and favor. They 
maybe eloquent orators and journalists, but that is nothing 
in a country where such gifts are abundantly developed. 
It is true they may contrive to create a local disturbance 
for awhile, but then it is soon over ; their names are for- 
gotten, never mentioned, and they take their ranks as or- 
dinary mortals. 

The truth is, that society in America resembles a wide- 
spread and well-developed tree, where a great many 
branches make an equally powerful growth on all sides, 
so that it is not easy to distinguish amongst them any 
particular branch which takes the lead. It is not an easy 
thing for any man to render himself conspicuous by his 
abilities in a country where there is so much individual 
talent called forth by education. !Now this is all right. 
It is good policy founded on ISTature. 

Continue to educate thy children, Columbia ! Inspire 
them with an inextinguishable love of truth and freedom, 



AND SUBORDINATION. 83 

and thy place sliall be foremost among the nations in 
wealth, in science, and in empire ! Oh ! tyranny, leave 
these shores forever ! There is no ehance for thee here ! 
Away with thy dungeons and thy chains ! It is not in 
America that enfranchised humanity can ever be incarce- 
rated ! In this country, men are not disposed to cringe 
before any despotism, however ancient and colossal. Here 
we live in .peace and charity with our neighbor, although 
we differ in religious opinions. Is this a condition of 
things to be lamented ? Have you the eflrontery to deny 
the fact that men live together more happily, now that 
religious and political freedom is enjoyed by all ? You 
would have the people to give up this " infidel freedom," 
(the language of baffled imposture !) those precious liber- 
ties claimed for them by their greatest statesmen, and pur- 
chased by the blood of heroes ! You w^ould revive in our 
midst the bloody massacres, barbarous cruelties, and inve- 
terate religious hatreds of former ages! Is it possible that 
you expect a people, now happy, enlightened, and free, 
making daily advances in science and in all the arts that 
humanize mankind, to succumb to your wretched, dark- 
ening, and enslaving policy ? Yet you are moving for- 
ward in the dark with slow and stealthy step ; but the 
friends of freedom are on the watch, and the moment you 
boldly reveal in the broad glare of day the tyranny of 
your purpose, Columbia will prove, as ever, the bravest 
defender of the religious and political liberties of man- 
kind. jSTothing but benevolence and good-will to the 
human race is written on her youthful, noble, starry brow. 
y^This then is the true social policy which is plainly indi- 
cated by the tree. We see that the sap has a natural ten- 
dency to pass to the leading branches from the branchlets 
and smaller twigs ; so power passes away naturally from 
the hands of the many, who are, comparatively speaking, 
without energy, to those of the few who possess it in a 
pre-eminent degree. But power, accumulated in the 
hands of any one man or body of men, is ever dangerous 
to liberty. Human nature is not to be trusted with irre- 
sponsible power, no matter what the plea. The encroach- 



84 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

ments of monopoly, wliether political, religious, or com- 
mercial, must therefore be withstood. The tree must be 
made to spread out on all sides. In a world like this it is 
necessary for people to look out; for the individual liberty 
of those who occupy a subordinate and inferior position 
" can only be maintained at the price of eternal vigilance." 

We have shown that the tree is a compound plant, built 
up by the labors of individual phytons or plants, called 
leaves. One generation of these phytons perishes every 
year, but not before each individual of the generation has 
formed a bud, which remains when the leaf falls, through 
the winter months ; the embryo, leaves and stem which it 
contains, developing on the return of the next vegetative 
season. If, therefore, the leaves are regarded as phytons 
or individual plants, the series of buds which they produce 
and from which comes forth, when circumstances are favor- 
able, new families of leaves, may be correctly regarded as 
a new generation; and if we consider the first set of leaves 
as the parent, or the entire shoot, built up by them, as the 
mother-shoot, the first set of buds produced by them which 
unfold to shoots and leaves, may be called the daughter- 
shoots or the first generation, and the second set of buds 
generated by the leaves of the daughter-shoots, the second 
generation, &c. 

Now if all leaves produced buds the first year, and if all 
buds, thus produced, unfolded to shoots and leaves the 
second year, then the number of generations of shoots 
would exactly correspond with the number of years daring 
which the tree had lived, and we should have an easy but 
simple method of determining its age. But in reality it is 
not so, because in the development of the main axis of a 
branch, often single or numerous seasons occur, during 
which the growth is greatly retarded, and only such leaves 
are produced Avhose axilla remain unfruitful, whilst the 
growth of the side-shoots is still more retarded, and they, 
for the same reason, consequently remain unbranched. 
Hence, the greatest difference predominates between the 
number of generations of shoots on a branch and its age. 
Compare in this respect the growth of the first side-shoot 



AND SUBORDINATION. 85 

in Fig. 1, page 31, with that of the whole branch, esti- 
mating, in both instances, from the bud-traces marked 
53. The age of both shoot and branch is the same, five 
years ; yet how great the difference in the extent to which 
development has been carried. In five years, there has 
been no side production from the shoot, with the excep- 
tion of a single bud, and its entire length is only four 
inches and six lines, whilst in the same time the primary 
axis has grown twenty-three inches and three lines, and 
put forth two generations of shoots, one of which is fifteen 
inches in length. 

It may be stated as a general rule, that, in very favorable 
conditions, very powerfully growing branches will put forth 
as many as four or five generations of side-shoots, but 
the vegetative power here expires, and the last generation 
of shoots are entirely rudimentary, appearing as mere 
rosettes or clusters of leaves, no intervals of stem what- 
ever being formed between them. 

Hence, the power of a branch to give forth branchlets 
is not indefinite, but diminishes with each succeeding gene- 
ration, until the vegetative power ultimately arrives at a 
minimum. A single glance at the branches of a tree is 
all that is necessary to satisfy the reader that there is a 
retarded growth in length and thickness of each succes- 
sive generation of shoots or branchlets. And this remis- 
sion of growth is not founded on a difference of age 
between the branch and branchlet, nor on a cessation of 
growth at a certain stage of the same, for all axes, so long 
as they continue to live, grow forth indefinitely ; but this 
circumspection of growth is rather founded on a difference 
in the intensity of growth from the commencement, on a 
positive loss of vegetative energy. 

When, therefore, the growth of the axis becomes com- 
pound, other considerations must enter into our calcula- 
tions with reference to the development of any individual 
axis, such as its relative position on the primary axis, or 
in regard to the number of successive generations. If it 
occupies an inferior and subordinate position on the pri- 
mary axis, or in the chain of successive generations, its 
growth will be necessarily very limited. 



86 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

The reader is again referred to the branch on page 31, 
which we must remind liim was copied from Nature. The 
maximum of ramifying power on the main axis of this 
branch appears to be about the middle, and is seen in the 
first branch immediately below the bud-traces, marked '54, 
or the fourth branch from the bottom. This branch is fif- 
teen inches in length. The tentli branch, just under the 
bud-trace marked 1857, exhibits the minimum of ramify- 
ing power, or a growth of only eig'ht lines. It will be seen 
that the difference of growth amongst the other branches 
in like manner bears a determinate relative connection 
with their several positions on the main axis of the branch. 

It is very seldom, therefore, that all the axillary buds of 
an axis are developed. Most frequently the majority of 
them are suppressed, and this, too, according to a fixed 
and regular law. In most cases, neither in the axilla of 
the covering leaves, nor in that of the under leaves, vitally 
active buds are produced, but only in the leaf-angles of the 
upper and more powerfully developed part of the year's 
shoot. Yet this rule is not without exceptions. In the 
Judas tree [Oercis Canadensis), the maximum of j)roductive 
power is certainly in the under part of the shoot ; the leaf- 
axilla have duplicate buds in the lower part of the shootj 
whilst toward its top the axilla of the leaves are sterile. 

Sometimes the buds which have thus been rendered ru- 
dimentary, retain a sufl&cient amount of vital activity to 
carry them forward through the annually deposited layers 
of wood and bark, so that they continue to maintain their 
position, year after year, on the outside of the bark, where 
they remain ready for action, in case the growth of the 
other buds is checked by untimely frosts or other causes. 
The disintegration of the bark, which is perpetually going 
on in old stems, undoubtedly helps to keep them on the 
surface. But in the majority of instances, the bud either 
dies, and is detached from the shoot the first 3'ear, or it re- 
tains its life, but continues totally inactive. In the latter 
case, it necessarily sinks below the surfiice of the stem, and 
becomes buried beneath the succeeding annual deposits of 
bark and wood. Here it may remain for years, in a state 



AND SUBORDINATION. 87 

of passive vitality, entombed in the stem of the tree, like 
a seed which is buried in the ground. The trunks and 
branches of trees always contain an immense number of 
these buried buds. The Beech branch figured on page 31 
of this work, may be again referred to ; for it furnishes an 
excellent illustration of this truth. We have proved it to 
have been constructed by the labors of one hundred and 
fifty-five leaves, each of which formed, more or less per- 
fectly, a bud in its axilla, before it fell from the stem ; yet 
only twenty-seven of these leaves developed vitally active 
buds — therefore, the total number of abortive or rudimen- 
tary buds in the branch must be 155 — 27=128. 

The reader will remember that this branch is only six 
years old, and is a mere twig, comparatively speaking. The 
length of the primary axis is but twenty-seven inches and 
three lines, and of its greatest secondary axis fifteen inches. 
How countless, therefore, must be the number of rudimen- 
tary buds in powerful branches, which have been growing 
for centuries ! Each generation of leaves, whose labors 
brought those branches to their present strength and size, 
doubtless left behind them buds which now lie concealed 
in them. The vitality of those buds is not destroyed. Their 
parent leaves, it may be, have died, and dropped from the 
tree many years ago ; but they still retain, unimpaired, the 
life which they then received. It is only necessary for 
them to be placed in circumstances favorable to their 
growth, to commence the most energetic life-movements. 
Let some of the leading branches be broken oif by the 
high winds of Winter, and wdien Spring comes, they will 
attract the sap which went to those branches to themselves. 
This will arouse their dormant energies ; and so powerful 
will be the impulse received, that they will force their way 
through the wood and bark to the surface, andbreakforth in- 
to branches, although that wood and bark may be the growth 
of years. All must be familiar with the sight of willows and 
other trees, whose main branches have been thus broken ofi", 
and whose trunks are nevertheless covered with j'^oung bran- 
ches and shoots, the growth of buds whichhave been buried 
in their wood, and for years dormant beneath their surface. 



bb THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

It is necessary, however, here to make some qualifying 
observations. Every plant possesses a power of forming 
buds out of any of its cells, when these cells are placed in 
suitable conditions. JSTow, although the normal position 
of a bud is either at the summit of a shoot, or in the axilla 
of a leaf, yet buds are frequently found also developing 
from other parts, such as the leaves and roots; and not un- 
frequently in the case of trees, where the branches have 
been pollarded, or cut away, from the cells of the cambium 
7'egion. It is a fact well known to gardeners, that under 
the influence of heat and moisture, the leaves of Bryo- 
pliyllum ealycinum, Cfloxinia, Gesneria, &c., may be made 
to produce buds ; and the production of buds on true roots 
has been frequently observed in Pyrus Japonka, 3Iachira 
mirantiaca, and Paulonia imperialis. Portions of the roots 
of these plants, in a healthy condition, may be made to 
produce new plants. Hence, in the case of willows and 
other trees, whose tops have been removed, " it is not al- 
ways easy to decide, without dissection, whether the buds 
are really adventitious, or merely latent axillary buds sti- 
mulated into development."* 

Buds are always formed from the cellular portion of the 
stem, and in normal cases they may be distin9tly traced on 
young branches to the pith or medullary rays. This fact 
is illustrated by the dark lines drawn through the centre of 
the conical jamifications of the diagram on page 59, which 
represents the pith in the centre of the branch and its 
branchlets, and shows its connection with their buds or 
developing points. In those cases where a bud has been 
formed by a leaf which has died years ago, and has main- 
tained its position on the exterior bark in a latent condition, 
if a section be made at the point of the stem where it is 
seen to protrude, the vegetative course of the bud will be 
marked by a line of pith called the wake of the bud, which 
traverses the several layers from the centre outward.f It 
follows from this, that branches of the same age may have 

* An Elementary Course of Botany, Structural, Physiological, and Sys- 
tematic, by Arthur Henfey, page G9. 

t See article "Botany," in Lardners Cabinet Cyclopa}dia. 



AND SUBORDINATION. 89 

originated from buds which have been formed at diiFerent 
periods of the life of the tree. Hence, as growth progresses, 
and the successive conical layers accumulate year after year 
around the stem and its branches, the original points of 
development from whence the first vitally active buds pro- 
ceeded, become deeply seated in the interior of the stem ; 
for the wood of the principal branches of the tree which 
usually developes from the earliest vitally active buds, can 
be traced through the successive annual layers down to 
these original points. This is the cause of those knots 
which we find in firs and other wood. They are in fact 
sections across a portion of the branches, which proceed 
from the interior of the stem, laterally and outwardly. 
The diagram on page 59, if carefully studied awhile, will 
also make this fact plain. 

But the abundant supply of food existing in the cells of 
the cambium region of the healthy trunks of trees which 
have been pollarded, will also stimulate to " unusual 
activity the cambium cells ;" and if there is no wake visible 
on dissection, it may be decided that the branches have 
been developed from cells which have originated there, as 
"vents for the extraordinary vital energy of the plant."* 

In society, as in a tree, there is a vast amount of dormant 
ability, which would manifest itself if circumstances were 
favorable. So, when a nation is decimated by disease, or 
depopulated by war, its arts and sciences revive, its poets 
and philosophers, its statesmen and heroes, are all repro- 
duced. Dormant talent is developed to replace that which 
has been removed. Men who would have passed through 
life without notice, fulfilling its ordinary routine of duties 
in their several callings and professions, become suddenly 
stimulated to exert themselves. The conditions have be- 
come more favorable for their development; their intel- 
lectual and moral energies are called forth by the new 
circumstances in which they find themselves placed, and 
they prove themselves equal to the performance of the 
several tasks which have been allotted to them. Their 
talents are as conspicuous and as highly honored by the 

* Henfej's Elementary Course of Botany, page 578. 



90 THE LAWS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 

community, as those of their predecessors, by the remem- 
brance of whose deeds they are stimulated. Thus death 
becomes the source of life — nations revive again. 

Owing to the imperfect state of our present civilization, 
the intellectual and moral powers of our nature are un- 
folded only in a few of our fellow-men, and these few, pre- 
eminent for high station and brilliant attainments, are 
being all the time brought before our notice. These 
privileged and favored individuals attract universal atten- 
tion, and in the excess of our admiration we arc apt to 
imagine a great gulf fixed between them and the rest of 
their race. But it not unfrequently happens that these 
great men, so conspicuous and illustrious, have had, from 
the very first start in life, every advantage of education 
and elevated social position. If so, properly regarded, 
they should unite us more closely to the multitude of men ; 
for the light which shines in them, shows clearly powers 
and capabilities now slumbering in thousands around us, 
awaiting but the influence of favoring circumstances to 
become manifest. 

The starveling shoot only requires sunshine and sap to 
become a powerful branch ; and every poor merchant and 
tradesman feels his want of capital, and how he could push 
and extend his business, if he only had the means to do so. 
How frequently amongst the trees of a forest, does it hap- 
pen that a powerful branch, rich in sap and sunlight, with 
its numberless branchlets and leaves all at work in the air, 
is swept away by a storm, and then the current of sap which 
it monopolized goes to the starveling shoots ; some of them, 
under its influence, become branches as powerful and luxu- 
riant as that which was removed, and the injury done the 
tree is thus completely effaced. 

It is precisely the same in the social world. Persons 
now in easy circumstances, well remember the time when 
they were starveling shoots. Did you not for years bravely 
battle with the world under every possible disadvantage ? 
You gathered energy and nerve from repeated conflicts, 
and at last a chance presented itself; and then, in the 
popular but expressive language of the day, you went 



AND SUBORDINATION. 91 

ahead, and putting forth on all sides, you did an immense 
business, giving employment to hundreds of hands. And 
now, having acquired both property and influence in the 
community, you calmly contemplate the struggles of others 
now situated as you were years ago. Good deeds done 
under such circumstances will be to those whom you be- 
friend, like the morning star to the storm-tossed mariner, 
inexpressibly beautiful and cheering ; for they will en- 
courage in them the hope of approaching day, and they 
will assuredly shine down on you cheerily and brightly as 
the evening star at the sunset of your life. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE RHYTHMS OR OSCILLATIONS OF GROWTH IN THE DEVELOP- 
MENT OF TREES ARE DURABLY IMPRESSED ON THEIR ORGANISM, 
AND THE ORGANIZATION OF MAN IS EQUALLY AS SUSCEPTIBLE 
OF RECEIVING AND RETAINING IMPRESSIONS FROM WITHOUT. 

In the consideration of a tree, we have to deal, not with 
a product of crystallization, such as the lead tree, or the 
dendritic formations on a frozen window, but with matter 
living and organized. Now, although it may be diiBcult 
to point out the bounding line between the animal and 
vegetable kingdom, because a decided characteristic dis- 
tinction between the animal and vegetable cell is wanted, 
yet the limit between living and lifeless Nature is easily 
defined. In living Nature, the cell predominates as the 
fundamental organ ; its absence characterizes the lifeless 
creation, whose fundamental form is the crystal. 

The crystal grows by additions of matter to its surface ; 
the cells grows from within, and not from without. The 
crystal, throughout its entire mass, consists of the same 
chemical principles, arranged in the same manner, and in 
the same proportions ; but the walls of the cell and its 
fluid contents are chemically different from each other. 
The parts of the crystal, held together by the power of 
mutual attraction, remain at rest, side by side, without 



92 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 

exercising any reciprocal influence on each other ; but the 
cells of plants, which united together form their tissues, 
or the solid substance of their organs, act and react upon 
each other and upon the sap as it passes through them. 
Cell and crystal cannot therefore be compared with one 
another ; for the cell Hves, hut the crystal is dead. The 
celebrated Naturalist, Linnceus, thus expresses himself in 
his Philosophical Botany : " Stones grow. Vegetables 
grow and live. Animals grow, live, and feel."* These 
definitions, remarkable for their brevity and clearness, 
have never j-et been surpassed. They imply a profound 
knowledge of jS'ature, and are worthy the revered memory 
of a man to whom the world must ever be indebted. 

But we have shown the cell to be the " lowest and 
simplest individual elementary organ" employed by ISTa- 
ture in the construction of the tree. Out of the cell springs 
forth organic life. Each animal and plant begins with a 
cell, and all the organs of the same are formed out of cells. 
Therefore, the increase in number of its cells, their indi- 
vidualization and association into tissues, constitute the 
living building material out of which the entire fabric of 
the tree is constructed ; and the tree is therefore no stiff, 
unyielding form, but a living, elastic, and easily impres- 
sible body, whose movements are, in fact, as fluctuating as 
those of the mercurial column in the tube of a barometer. 

And, first of all, let us contemplate vegetative Nature in 
her simpler forms. Let us study the life-history of one of 
those lowly native annuals, besprinkled, as it were, in 
kindness, in the Spring of the year, over the landscape, 
by that sublime Providence who guides all Kature, 
ruling alike the movements of atoms and the roll of 
worlds. From the first breaking forth of life in the seed, 
there is continual motion and activity, — a regular cycle 
of leaves until growth culminates ; the plant then flowers, 
arrives at the condition of a seed, and ejiters on the stage 
of rest. The entire axis, and all its appendages, — its roots, 
leaves, and flowers — have perished ; for into the seed the 

* Lapides crescunt. Vegetabilia crescunt et vlvunt. Animalia cres- 
cunt, vivunt, et sentiunt. — Philosophia Botanica, a Carlos Linnceus. 



OF GROWTH IN TREES, 93 

exhausted vitality of the plant has retired. Then comes 
the sleep of Winter, when forest tree and lowly flower alike 
repose, till the onward march of Nature brings back to 
earth the heat and light of Spring, re-awakens the dormant 
life-energies in the seed, which slowly commences the 
same instructive and ever deeply-interesting life move- 
ments. 

In forest trees, or woody perennials, there is the same 
continual change from a state of rest to that of motion. 
As the tree grows, the life-movements forward are accele- 
rated and then retarded, year after year. These fluctua- 
tions of growth in trees may be compared to the rising 
and the falling of a wave, wdiich attains a certain eleva- 
tion over the ocean's surface, and then sinks into its depths 
and disappears. 

Now, the trunk of a tree rises at first from the seed as 
an herbaceous stem ; but, as it usually becomes more or 
less woody before the close of the vegetative season, when 
it enters on the stage of rest in Winter, it is not destroyed 
by tlie severity of the season. Only its foliage perishes. 
We have seen how the foliage is renewed upon fresh shoots 
from the terminal and lateral buds of the young stem every 
season ; in fact, the axis with its branches is the only per- 
manently enduring part of the tree. 

In some trees these fluctuations of growth, or vibratory 
movements between a state of rest and that of motion, last 
for hundreds and even thousands of years ; but the tree, 
like every other living organized form, is compelled at 
last to pay back the debt due to Nature, and yields to the 
earth and air those borrowed elements out of which it ori- 
ginated. 

In order that the reader may form a more definite idea 
of the nature of these waves of growth, we have ventured 
to classify them as follows. In the life of a tree, we may 
distinguish three principal waves of growth, or accelerated 
and retarded vital movements. 

The Annual Wave. — During winter, the trees of tempe- 
rate climates, like the seeds in the ground, are in a state 
of passive vitality. Life exists in both, although there is 



94 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 

no perceptible vital movement ; for there is no chemical 
decomposition or separation of their parts. Alexander 
von Humboldt defines the power of life as that inward 
force which dissolves the fetters of the chemical affinities, 
and prevents the union of the elements or original com- 
ponents of organized bodies. Therefore, there cannot be 
a more infallible mark of death than corruption. It indi- 
cates that the elementary principles or raw material of 
what was once a plant or an animal, are beginning to obey 
their pristine laws, and to arrange themselves in accord- 
ance with their chemical relations to each other. There- 
fore, so long as the parts of the organism hold together, 

"Before decay's eGFacing fingers 
Have swept the lines where beauty lingers," 

the functions of life, like those of the seed or the tree, may 
be only suspended for a season, notwithstanding the pre- 
sence of all the other distressing indications of disease. 

Reader, blame me not for this apparent digression. My 
object in this book is to show " What may be learned from 
a tree." The above lesson is an important one, and may 
perhaps be of service some day ; for it is a sad truth, that 
inevitable separations await us all, and " hours of desola- 
tion are on the wing, coming swiftly and straight toward 
us, soon to overshadow us, and hide us from the light of 
the sun."* 

But Winter has gone with its cold, darkness, and storms, 
and Spring has come with its warm, bright sun and gentle 
breezes. The stage of rest is passed. lieinvigorated Na- 
ture awakens from repose. Slowly emerges the plant out 
of the seed, and the tree begins to grow. There is again 
continual motion and activity amongst all the parts of the 
growing organs, the same cycle of appendages, — of leaves, 
flowers, and fruits, — until both arrive again, in the fall, at 
the stage of rest. The tree is deprived of the leaves and 
flowers of Spring, and of the fruits of Autumn. Another 
ring of wood and bark has been formed, and additions 

* Discourses by W. H. Furness, Pastor of the First Congregational Unita- 
rian Church, Philadelphia. 



OF GROAVTH IN TREES. 95 

have been made of new growths to the extremities of its 
branches. These yearly vibrations of growth correspond 
with the oscillations of the great pendulum of the universe, 
and are faithfully recorded in the annual wood-rings visi- 
ble on the cross-section, and in the bud-traces left on the 
exterior bark of the young shoots and branches. 

This however is not all ; for when we come to examine 
carefully the diiferent parts of the tree, when it is denuded 
of its foliage, we find that each branch, and branchlet, and 
shoot is characterized by its own peculiar fluctuation. In 
the annual wave of growth which pervades each shoot, 
there are 'three distinct stages which ofifer themselves for 
consideration. Toward the bottom of each shoot, we have 
formed a series of perfectly undeveloped internodes, which 
support the covering-leaves, and which are visible after 
their fall in a series of closely approximated annual scars, 
called, in this work, bud-traces [gemma vestigia). Then 
follow the partially developed internodes of the lower 
leaves of the shoot, and then the principal internodes 
which, through their expansion, form the shoot. But the 
vitality of the leaves above the centre of the shoot becomes 
more and more enfeebled, because they come to their per- 
fection later in the season, when the heat and light of the 
sun — those stimulants of vegetable vitality — decrease. 
The internodes between the leaves consequently approach 
each other, until finally we arrive at the terminal bud, 
where the shoot again enters on the stage of rest. 

Now, as the cycle of accelerated and retarded growth 
is repeated each season, and since there is always as 
marked a contrast among the shoots as between the inter- 
nodial developments of the commencing parts and those 
that follow, the same wave of growth is perceptible amongst 
the shoots ; and therefore we have marked out by Nature, 
in a manner not less sure, the growth of the year, in cases 
where the bud-traces are indistinct or wholly absent from 
the axis of growth, as in the Buckthorn [Rhamnusfrangida). 
In the Beech branch, represented on page 31, the wave of 
growth appears to culminate about the centre of each 



96 OSCILLATIONS Or. VIBRATIONS 

year's slioot. The reader will be satisfied of tliis fact by 
examining the drawing. 

The Daily Wave. — According to Treviranus, the growth 
of trees is accelerated during the day and retarded in the 
evening. The principal German physiologists appear to 
agree as to the fact that there is such a daily acceleration 
and retardation of growth, though they differ a little as to 
the precise time of its occurrence. This daily fluctuation 
is by no means unreasonable ; for growth can only take 
place through the assimilation of formative material, and 
this mainly depends on the sun's influence. The vital 
energies of plants may possibly vary with the degree of 
the sun's elevation above the horizon, and plants may re- 
cuperate to some extent during the night, like the animal 
creation. For the same reason growth wall be more rapid 
when the sun shines, especially after rain, than when the 
sky is clouded. 

Some of the distinguished microscopists and physio- 
logists of Germany think that these daily pulsations of 
growth have also left their mark in the interior of the tree, 
and that the fine layers in the thick w^alls of the wood and 
bast tissues, and of the starch granules, are connected 
with these daily fluctuations in the growth of plants. 
" Starch granules are the most easily observed in the cells 
of the potato, wdiere they are very large. The mode of 
their formation is indicated by the peculiar markings on 
their outer surface, each grain having a spot at one end 




Grains of starch from the potato. 

which is called the liilum, or ostiole, wnth fine concentric 
lines drawn around it."* 

The Life Wave. — This is that grand vibration of growth 

* See the author's work eutltled " The Plant : an Illustration of the 
Ornfanic Life of the Animal.'' 



OF GROWTH IN TREES. 97 

which extends through the whole period of the life of the 
tree, and which carries along with it all the smaller fluctu- 
ations of each day and each year. We have shown that the 
growth of the different parts of a tree depends on the 
amount of leaf-surface put forth by each part into the 
atmosphere. But there is a continually increasing number 
of leaves developed during the first period of the life of a 
tree, and consequently an acceleration of growth, not only 
of each individual part, but of the entire tree itself in the 
same ratio, until the tree puts forth its maximum amount 
of foliage, when the wave of growth culminates. The 
tree has now obtained its greatest elevation and its widest 
spread. Thus, precisely the same accelerated and gradu- 
ally retarded growth which is manifested by the un- 
branched first year's shoot, pervades the entire fabric of 
the tree. The law of each part of a tree is thus beautifully 
and clearly expressed in the whole tree. 

It has been intimated that not only the entire tree, but 
each branch and branchlet has its own independent and 
characteristic wavelet. It is for this reason, whilst the 
tree is growing, that it is perpetually changing its form, 
year after year. The greatest individual freedom predo- 
minates. Each shoot, each smaller and greater shoot 
system, grows after its own fashion. Sometimes here, 
sometimes there, one or two branches take the lead 
awhile, to be overgrown and hidden from view in suc- 
ceeding years by the more powerful development of the 
lower and surrounding branches. Each year the tree 
changes its form, yet such is the wonderful power of cen- 
tralization and the subjection of all its parts to the law im- 
pressed on the seed, that the tree always retains the same 
peculiar landscape character. To nothing is more strik- 
ingly applicable than to the tree-form, what Goethe, the 
German poet said of Kature : " She creates eternally new 
forms; what there is, was yet never; what was, comes not 
^ again. All is new, and yet always the old."* These fluc- 

* '"' Sie schafft ewig neu Gestalten ; was tia ist, war nocli nie, was war, 
kommt nicht wieder. Alles ist neu und docli immer das Alte." 

7 



98 OSCILLATIONS Oil VIBRATIONS 

tuatioiis in the landscape figure or outline of a growing 
tree, resemble the living play of a fountain which is inex- 
haustible in new forms, and yet remains so similar to it- 
self, that the spectator in the distance might almost be- 
lieve himself to perceive a solid form hewn out of marble. 

This constancy of the form or peculiar characteristic 
landscape expression of the tree, through all its fluctua- 
tions, in the earlier stages of its growth, shows the pre- 
dominating influence of the grand life-wave, which carries 
forward all the minor fluctuations of the branches, and 
aflbrds the highest proof not only of the individuality of 
the tree, but of the organic unity of all its parts. 

There is then in the development of the entire tree, one 
grand, all-pervading wave of growth, or an acceleration of 
the yearly growths made by all its parts up to a determined 
stage of culmination, and from thence, to the end of its 
life, a progressive remission follows. For the life-wave 
culminates when the tree has gained its maximum height 
and spread, and puts forth its reproductive organs or 
flowers. Its growth is then slowly retarded, for repro- 
duction is always a check upon vegetation, — the vegeta- 
tive efforts of each season being absorbed by the repro- 
ductive. 

And now, reader, imagine yourself seated with me be- 
neath the shade of some grand and glorious old tree. I 
am going to let you into the secret of a few bright guiding 
thoughts, which cheer me along through life. Spring has 
covered this tree with another generation of bright, green 
leaves, all of which are at work on its fabric, and usefully 
employed. They will soon pass away, and others will take 
their place, for Nature knows no backward movements. 
How many such generations of leaves have already ex- 
pended life in building up this tree ! 

Reader, your position and mine on this earth resembles 
that of the leaves on this tree. "We are only here for a 
little space of time. Many generations have preceded us, 
and coming generations will soon take our place. The 
wise and good of all ages have been trying to improve this 



OF GROWTH IN TREES. 99 

world and its inhabitants, and, as the result of their labors, 
we have now a social organization called civilized society. 
There certainly can be no question as to the necessity of 
further improvements. These must be founded on iN^ature. 
Whilst we live, theu, let us employ ourselves usefully, and 
help to diffuse science, peace, prosperity, and contentment. 
Let us try to build up a noble social tree. 

If we study the economy of labor amongst these leaves, 
we shall find that they " help each other along." The 
lower leaves on the shoot, for instance, prepare the sap 
or nutrient material for the leaves above them, the little 
twigs assist to develope the branchlets, and the branchlets 
aid in the growth of the branches. In point of fact, the 
whole tree may be regarded as a " Mutual Aid Society ;" 
and thus should it be in tliis world. 

The tree is all the time changing its form, and in like 
manner society is ever changing its aspect through all its 
ramifications. Through' want of life-energy and industry, 
some are losing gradually that social position to which 
they were elevated by their ancestors. They are rapidly 
losing the sap* for which all are contending. This is now 
being diverted away from them to other channels, to indi- 
vidual shoots and branches, where there is more vital ac- 
tivity, for sap is always attracted to these parts ; these 
stranger shoots are becoming more and more conspicuous 
in the social tree, and will soon overtop and conceal them. 
It is thus that the rich sometimes become poor, and the 
poor rich. 

But there are other causes which efiect great social 
changes in a community. Sometimes the form of a tree 
changes in consequence of storms ; its branches are broken 
off by powerful winds. And what man is sure for one 
moment against calamity ! This is so well known, that the 
words " in prosperity prepare for adversity" have passed 
into a proverb. How frequently have the fruits of years 
of toil and privation been lost in a single hour! 

* Sap, or dollars — that circulating medium so necessary to the develop- 
ment of individuals and societies in civilized communities. 



100 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 

It has, however, been shown that the injury done to the 
tree is soon effaced, that when branches are thus removed, 
those less developed get the sap which they monopolized. 
And does not precisely the same law obtain in society ? 
If any body sutlers in pereon or pocket, somebody is sure 
to benefit. Hence the force of the old Scotch proverb, 
" It's an ill wind that blaws naebody ony luck," 

But the most remarkable and interesting feature about 
a tree is the fact that it is a body so easily impressible. All 
its periodical changes from a state of rest to that of motion, 
those waves of growth of which we have spoken, have left 
an indelible impression in the solid parts of its fabric. All 
the bright and stormy days of its life, every wind that has 
shaken its foliage, and every rain-drop that has wetted its 
roots, have helped to mould its physical organization, and 
make it just what it is. "We see, however, that in the 
figure of its leaves, the form of its branches, arfd the color 
of .its flowers, it is governed by peculiar laws of life im- 
pressed on the seed, and that it possesses an internal orga- 
nizing power by which it can to a certain extent form it- 
self, notwithstanding the indelible impressions left on its 
organization by the events of its life. 

And is it not thus with the successive generations of 
man ? Like the flowers of the field and the trees of the 
forest, do not we all develope according to the same general 
laws running through the same cycle of life-changes — of 
infancy, maturity, decay, and dissolution ? Yet each indi- 
vidual is governed by a pecuHar specific law. Is there not 
an individuality about each of us ? Hence, like the plants 
around us, do we not possess, to a certain extent, an orga- 
nizing power within ourselves ? Like the trees, we are in- 
separably connected with the material world, from whence 
our organization derives impressions. We are a part of 
the universe. The matter of which our bodies are com- 
posed, like that of trees and flowers, is held together by 
attraction, and after a while, like them, the present living 
generation will disappear from the landscape, — dissolved 
into earth and air. But not an atom perishes. The same 



OF GROWTH IN TREES. 101 

matter again reappears in other forms of life and beauty. 
It is not the first time that the matter which composes the 
present living organized creation has been vitalized. How 
then can this grand machine of N'ature be without guid- 
ance ? Who will say that there is no plan or system in 
this thing ? Is it not also plain, that we are connected 
with the past and future in adamantine chains, and that 
the species of independency and separation from external 
nature which we attribute to ourselves is a mere figment? 
And if matter is thus imperishable,* then gravity, heat, 
light, electricity (those forces which control matter)," are 
also eternal. And why should not mind be immortal — 
mind, the highest force in the universe, which now guides 
the lightnings, and to form and advance which is the de- 
sign of this vast system of sea and land, air and skies ? It 
is natural for a noble mind to desire immortality. But if 
man is not immortal, then in vain a nation weeps for its 
mighty dead, and erects its noblest cenotaphs. Where 
will they' be when the perpetual beat of ocean shall have 
shattered to ashes these continents, and the Alps and the 
Andes, those majestic monuments of Nature, lie entombed 
under its rolling waters ? Matter and the forces which 
govern it are eternal, and human life (I mean that life 
which we have in common with plants), is a mere integral"}" 

* There is not now and, in the author's opinion, never was, a chaos or 
state of things in which the atoms of material bodies were heterogeneously 
disposed. All the researches of science tend to show that matter has al- 
ways been subject to law. It is not impossible for the matter of our earth 
to have existed in some other form anterior to its attraction together about 
the earth's centre, and when the earth shall have answered the purposes of 
its creation, when she shall grow weary in her diurnal march, and the ocean 
roll its last billow, the winds breathe their last gasp, may not the matter of 
the earth, like that of one of the beautiful trees and flowers which have 
disappeared from its surface, still be in existence, and reappear again in 
some other form, to beautify the heavens and go through another grand 
cycle of change ? 

t Integral, the sum of a series of differentials or infinitely small quanti- 
ties. The moments of human life are its differentials, and human life itself 
is their sum or integral. 



102 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 

portion of eternity ; yet, why doubt the immortality of that 
higher manifestation of hfe called mind, when it can sweep 
over the vastness of Nature and unfold the principles of 
things ? If the value of man is to be estimated by the 
duration of his frail and perishable body, then is he of less 
importance than the tree which he fells for timber, for that 
frequently outlives him and his successive generations. 
Oh, let us not think thus meanly of ourselves ! The mind 
is the man ; and " one living mind is worth more than a 
dead universe." Never can I s^mipathize with those who 
seek to inspire man with low, reptile feelings, and try to 
shame him out of his trust in his Creator, What moral 
good can ever result to the human race from the advocacy 
of such sentiments ? 

I see the sun now sinking in the West. He is casting 
his parting rays on our landscapes. How beautiful the light 
reflected from the clouds in his neighborhood ! Another 
beat of the great pendulum of the universe ! Whence that 
thought ? It arises from my appreciation of the advance 
of Nature. The landscapes are now enveloped in the 
earth's shadow. It is night. Why did that sunset give 
me so much pleasure ? Because the sun was made to 
minister to my gratification. I am then of more import- 
ance than that sun. Yet it shone myriads of ages before 
I came to regard its splendors, and it will soon shine on 
my lowly grave. That will contain my body, but not me. 
Others shall look on thy setting beauties, thou glorious 
sun, and read these lines when I am gone, and oh ! may 
they inspire in them my own unfaltering faith in Provi- 
dence and immortality ! 

As the tree is connected with the material world and re- 
ceives impressions from without which mould its character, 
so with the organism of man. He is bound by inseparable 
ties to the material creation. Locke in his " Essay on the 
Human Understanding," has shown us the nature of this 
connection : that sensation links us with matter, is the 
germ of intellect, and the avenue of human knowledge. 



OF GROWTH IN TREES. 103 

Notwithstanding tlie unbounded liberty wliich the mind 
of man seems to possess, it is in reality confined within 
very narrow limits ; for when we carefully analyze our 
ideas, simple and complex, we can trace them without an 
exception to past impressions made on our organization. 
We can form no conception of anything without a refer- 
ence to ideas previously acquired by the senses. I may 
conceive of a golden mountain, but it is obvious that if I 
had not previously acquired, by impressions from external 
Nature, the ideas of mountain and gold, it would have been 
impossible to have formed the combination. 

We are very frequently compelled to receive ideas in- 
dependently of our will. I may, for instance, be looking 
out of my window, and see a man shot down, and a year 
afterwards recollect the circumstance. I have thus invol- 
untarily acquired an idea. Impressions thus received, 
when powerful and painful, will recur again and again, 
and influence our conduct through life. 

Now if our knowledge of an external object was limited 
to the moment of perception, and was extinguished for- 
ever with the fading sensation which gave it birth, if we 
had no memory of past impressions, then we should be 
creatures utterly incapable of reasoning or reflection. 
But we are so constituted that the knowledge derived 
from without lives within us. All our past impressions 
are secured to us. They are associated together accord- 
ing to certain laws, which have evidently been contrived 
with the most admirable adaptation to our wants, so as to 
bring again the knowledge previously acquired by the 
senses at the very time when its return is the most profit- 
able. " A burnt child fears the fire," for example. Hence 
we are ever expanding ourselves over the long series of our 
past sensations, for memory is the mind relapsing into a 
former state, and the use of reason becomes more and 
more apparent, as these sensations from the external world 
are increased in number and variety. 

How beautifully are the upper and lower extremities of a 



104 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS 

tree organized with reference to tlie eartli and atmosphere ! 
The fibres on the roots and the leaves on the branches — 
how different in form and color ! Yet both are absorbents 
beautifully adapted to the media in which they develope. 
In like manner is the organization of man adapted to the 
material creation spread around. His eye is beautifully 
adapted to receive the light, his ear is fovned for the re- 
ception of sound ; his body, in fact, is an apparatus most 
exquisitely contrived to render him sensible to the nature 
of external things. Hence, Nature is the great teacher. 
In childhood we are the most passive and impressible. 
We spend life in a state of constant and curious excite- 
ment. We are perpetually stimulated by the presence of 
new objects, and every hour brings with it stores of facts 
and natural appearances, the rich materials of our future 
knowledge. Nature is pouring in instruction at every 
avenue of sense. As we advance in years, we become 
familiar with common objects, and our attention is natu- 
rally drawn away from the discovery of what is new to 
the study and examination of that which is old. The vast 
variety of phenomena which have made an impression on 
us are brought under review, and the feverish astonish- 
ment of childhood gives place to the calm of manly con- 
templation. Then commence those first attempts at gene- 
ralization which mark the dawn of science in the mind, 
and from the lessons of the past we now draw the mate- 
rials of our future wisdom. 

T"Every wind and rain-drop has helped to mould the cha- 
racter of this tree. And it is a great truth, which well 
/deserves to be regarded, that not only the peculiarities of 
their organization, but the circumstances by which they 
are surrounded, form those endlessly diversified varieties 
of human character which we meet with in our passage 
through life. Like the diflerent trees of a forest, the in- 
dividuality of men is the result of the controlling influence 
of peculiar laws of organization and the circumstances in 
which they are placed. 



OF GROWTH IN TREES. 105 

The tree unfolds from the seed and runs through all the 
various phases of its life, according to peculiar laws which 
are ineffaceable, and can never be set aside by circumstances, 
adverse or otherwise. And, like the trees and flowers, human 
nature exists under a vast variety of form. We differ from 
each other, not only in our features, but in our tastes and 
modes of thought. These differences of character are consti- 
tutional, the res, H of the operation of those peculiar laws 
of life which have governed us from the commencement of 
existence. This variety of talent and disposition is a wise 
and benevolent provision of Nature, It brings men together. 
It enables them to be of service to each other, and thus 
strengthens the bonds of mutual dependence, respect, and 
good-will. Since, then, human nature is so constituted, it 
shows not only ignorance and narrowness of mind, but a want 
of courtesy and even common sense, to cherish unkind feel- 
ings toward any man for a mere difference of opinion, or a 
want of sympathy with us in our favorite pursuits. On the 
contrary, charity and forbearance are indicative of a mind 
enlightened, expanded, and noble. It is an endorsement of the 
fact that its possessor appreciates freedom. "We cannot all 
think alike. There are natural antipathies and mutual attrac- 
tions. If the former were not a reality, the latter could have 
no existence, and life would be without some of its choicest 
blessings — the sweet sympathies of mutual love, and the warm 
and appreciating grasp of the hand of friendship. 

A tree cannot flourish in an unfavorable soil, however 
healthy the germ which the seed encloses. So a man may 
be richly endowed with natural talent, and yet that talent 
will continue rudimentary, and ultimately become abortive 
through the long continuance of unfavorable circumstances. 
These facts ought ever to be borne in mind if we would form 
a just appreciation of others. The first duty which a man 
owes to himself is to develop himself. Circumstances form 
character. " He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, 
but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." There must 
be an affinity for what is true and noble, and then there will 
be progress. We may extricate ourselves from an unfavorable 



106 OSCILLATIONS OR VIBRATIONS, ETC. 

position. By honorable, riglit-angled or upright behavior, we 
may awaken sympathy in the bosom of the wise, the just, and 
the benevolent. We may impress them favorably, and they 
will necessarily become our friends. It is a law of Nature, 
that virtue and integrity shall have their reward. Is not this 
a plain indication of that pathway through life over which 
men ought to travel ? 

And let us never forget that we mutually impress each 
other by every action of our lives. If we violate a contract 
made with another, we produce a bad impression, and we 
injure not only the man but the community. That unfavor- 
able impression is retained, and it may be a generous and 
confiding man has been rendered, for life, penurious and dis- 
trustful. But if we keep our contract, we produce a good 
impression, which is quite as permanent — the man has con- 
fidence in us, and we impel him to increased confidence in 
his species. He meets us with a bright smile because we 
have done Avell. If men only reflected thoroughly on the 
power of external circumstances and individual laws of 
organization, they would act with greater wisdom and justice 
toward each other. 

Far be it from me to insinuate in these pages that man is 
ever carried to any line of conduct by physical impulse or 
necessity. If we suppose this, then man becomes a mere 
machine ; and no longer responsible for his conduct, he is 
unworthy of either praise or blame. Virtue becomes a fig- 
ment. Every action of his life is the result of choice, and 
that choice connects itself witli a degree of moral responsi- 
bility proportioned to the extent to which he has a clear and 
adequate perception of his obligations. The very idea of 
virtue implies resistance to temptation and an enlightened 
and willing fulfillment of duty. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The leaf with the entire edge is alone to be re- 
garded AS A SIMPLE LEAF — THE LEAF TAKES A HIGHER 
FORM OF ORGANIZATION, AND BECOMES COMPOUND IN 
PROPORTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIBROUS POR- 
TION OF ITS LAMINA — ALL THE IRREGULARITIES OF ITS 
MARGIN, SUCH AS LOBES, TEETH, CRENATURES, SERRA- 
TURES, RESULT FROM AN EFFORT AT NEW LEAFLET- 
FORMATION ARRESTED IN ITS FIRST STAGES. 

The commonest leaf-form in the vegetable world, wLich 
must therefore be regarded as the fundamental type or normal 
form, consists of two parts — a stalk or support, called the 
petiole, and an expanded part called the lamina or blade. To 
such organs the term leaf was formerly restricted. But it is 
now admitted by all physiologists, that this term is equally 
applicable to all the organs of the periphery of the plant 
which develop laterally during the growth of the axis, and 
which are distinguished from the ordinary stem leaves by the 
use of the terms bud-scales, stipules, bracts, sepals, petals, 
stamens, and pistils. All these different varieties of leaf-form 
pass by intermediate gradations into one another, so that this 
classification is wholly arbitrary, and the terms are merely 
used as convenient references to those varieties which are the 
most decidedly marked. Now, what is the evidence on which 
this doctrine rests? Is it not transition forms? Does not 
the whole science of Vegetable Morphology rest on this 
foundation? The following facts presented in this chapter 
are only the fruit of a careful application of precisely the 
same principles of research. Transition forms show ties of 
relationship subsisting between the most dissimilar organs 
and often lead to conclusions at which Naturalists themselves 

(107) 



108 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

a^e at first completely astounded. Nature herself by this 
means teaches us her own processes, and this too by such 
evidence as none can gainsay or deny. 

The reproductive always exhausts the vegetative force. 
All physiologists will concede me this ground unhesitatingly. 
It is well known that this is one of those grand laws which 
govern every form of organized matter. Animals and plants 
must first vegetate before they can reproduce ; and reproduc- 
tion in both always checks growth and exhausts the vital 
powers of the organism. Hence leaves take a simpler form 
in the neighborhood of the flower. They are not so highly 
organized, because their development is gradually arrested, 
and the vegetative force diminishes in intensity as the repro- 
ductive force becomes manifest. There is a mutual antago- 
nism between these two forces. There can be no doubt as to 
the influence exercised by this law in modifying the foliage 
of plants. It is only necessary to compare the leaves in the 
neighborhood cf the flower with those at some distance from 
it, in the vegetative region, to see the gradual simplification 
of leaf-structure, as we pass from the vegetative to the floral 
region. 

Now, such investigations are exceedingly instructive; for 
if we carefully examine the leaves of plants at difierent points 
of height along the stem, it will be seen that they present 
notable differences of form, and that the most intimate ties 
of relationship subsist between lobes, crenatures, teeth, etc. 
Generally speaking, the leaves attached toward the inferior 
portion of the stem are cut into teeth or lobes more or less 
numerous, and are connected with the stem by a petiole or 
stalk ; but in proportion as they are situated near the flower, 
they become smaller, lose their stalk or support, and become 
sessile, the teeth, lobes and other irregularities disappear from 
the margin of their lamina, which becomes entire, and they 
gradually approach the floral leaves in form, until finally they 
cannot be distinguished from them except by their position 
around the stem. The gradual disappearance of the serratures 
from the margin of the leaves in proportion to their proximity 
to the flowers, may be seen to advantage in the different 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 109 

species of Solidago, or Golden-rod, and the passage of lobes 
into denatures in tlie Swamp mallow {Hibiscus moscJietitos). 

The stem leaves, however, not only vary in form in pro- 
portion as we pass from the vegetative to the reproductive 
region, but they vary in the midst of the vegetative region 
Itself. The polymorphous condition of the foliage of the 
paper mulberry (BrousoneUia ^jap?/r//era), and the common 
Sassafras {Sassafras officinalis), is well known. On these trees 
scarcely any two leaves can be collected which have precisely 
the same figure. The variability of the foliage in this case 
cannot arise, as in the former, from the gradual decrease in 
the vegetative tendencies of the leaves in consequence of the 
tendency to the exercise of the reproductive function — there 
must be some other cause. 

In Chapter VI. we have shown that the growth of trees 
may be compared, not to the steady and continuous flow of 
a stream, but to the rising and falling of a wave ; and that the 
tree, whilst growing, is in a state of continual oscillation, as it 
were, between a condition of progress and one of stand-still. 
Now, the difference of growth amongst the shoots, not only 
during the same year, but for a succession of years, may be 
traced to this accelerated and retarded wave of growth, or the 
ever- varying condition of the vegetative force throughout the 
season; and the fluctuations of the same wave leave their 
traces in the foliage of the shoots. In herbaceous annuals 
and perennials this wave obtains its maximum elevation 
where the leaves are most developed, and is depressed to a 
minimum in the flower. The same wave is visible in the 
leaves of ligneous perennials or trees, which are generally 
much smaller toward the bottom of each new shoot, and 
larger toward its centre and summit. 

Now, when polymorphous leaves appear on such of the 
shoots and branches of a tree as are purely vegetative, this 
wave of growth must be taken into consideration in com- 
paring them with each other. It will be found that the leaves 
with the greatest number of lobes and other marginal irregu- 
larities are invariably developed at those points of the shoot 
where the vegetative force is the greatest, or where the wave 



110 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

of growtli is at its maximum, and that they take a simpler 
form, their fibrous portion or framework being less developed, 
as the vegetative force diminishes in intensity, or the wave 
of growth is gradually depressed along the axis of the shoot. 
Hence, this variability in the form of the leaves on such 
shoots and branches as are purely vegetative, arises from the 
operation of the same common laws of accelerated and re- 
tarded growth which pervades the branches. 

On some trees, such as the sassafras and paper mulberry, 
with polymorphous foliage, if we collect and compare the 
different varieties of leaf we shall find that they invariably 
take a higher form of organization in proportion to the 
development of the fibrous portion of their lamina. The 
truly simple leaf is in fact the one with an entire edge, and 
all other varieties of leaf having irregularities of margin, such 
as lobes, dentations, creuatures, serratures, must be regarded as 
leaves in a certain stage of progress to a compound condition, 
for the above marginal irregularities are in reality an effort 
at new leaflet formation arrested in its first stages. 

"We commence this demonstration with the case of lobed 
leaves, which is the most obvious. 

The lobed variety of leaf is caused by two or more partially 
formed leaflets, which are organically united with each other 
and develop in the same plane. The upper part of the lamina 
of these leaflets is the only portion of them which is fully 
formed, and it is this which gives to such leaves their lobed 
appearance. 

For let the polymorphous foliage of the common blackberry 
{Rubus villosus), see Plate III., be carefully studied, and a com- 
parison instituted between the different varieties of its leaves. 
Every intermediate grade of development may be traced 
between lobes and leaflets, the various vegetative stages in 
the passage of the former into the latter having been left 
visible in the leaves of this plant. We have monographed 
a few of the more prominent forms to show their connection, 
and give the reader an idea of our method of observing 
Nature. But all the intermediate varieties can be collected, 
and thus the truth of the above proposition may be verified. 



FKOM SIMPLE LEAVES. 

Fl.3 



111 




112 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

Now, it is plain, from simple inspection of tlie fibrous part 
of these different varieties of leaf, that in proportion as that 
is developed, the leaf itself becomes more highly organized. 
These leaves were detached in regular order from the side 
of the shoot, commencing with those situated in the neighbor- 
hood of the flower and proceeding downward into the vege- 
tative region. At a we have the lamina of the leaf with only 
a biserrate margin, and no petiole. This specimen was nearest 
the flower. At h we have a trilobed condition of the lamina, 
or a partial formation of one terminal and two lateral leaflets. 
At c one of the leaflets is formed ; and the other two are still 
in a st[ite of anastomosis, d, The three leaflets detached from 
each other and fully formed, e, The same more developed. 
/, A bilobed condition of one of the leaflets, and an increased 
development of the petiole, g, Both of the leaflets bilobed. 
/i, One of the new leaflets fully formed, i, Complete forma- 
tion of both of the new leaflets. 

Here, then, we have plainly visible the intermediate stages 
in the formation of the lamina or blade of a leaf with only a 
biserrate margin, into five distinct leaflets. Surely, after 
such a lesson from Nature, we may safely regard the lobed 
variety of leaf as the condition of a lamina whose leaflets are 
in a state of partial formation, and remain still organically 
united with each other. 

The leaves of the swamp maple {Acer omhnim), the sugar 
maple {Acer saccharinum), the Plane-tree maple {Acer pseudo- 
platanus), and the Castor-oil {Riciims communis)^ Plate lY., 
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, may therefore be regarded as transition forms 
between simple and compound leaves. In all these cases the 
lamina of the leaf consists of several partially -formed anasto- 
mosing leaflets, whose number is indicated by the number of 
lobes, and the extent to which their formation has been 
carried, by the depth of the divisions between the lobes, 
precisely as the number of petals and sepals united and the 
extent of their union is shown in the gamopetalous and gamo- 
sepalous envelopes of the flower, by the number of lobes or 
teeth on their superior margin. 

When the fibrous ramifications of these lobed leaves are 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 113 

prominent on their under surface, as in the Castor-oil plant, 
by simple inspection of that under surface, we can easily trace 
out the fibrous portion of each forming leaflet in the blade 
of the leaf, and thus satisfactorily arrive at the same conclu- 
sion, that the entire blade itself is a composition of partially 
formed and organically united leaflets. Because the lateral 
veins given off by the midrib of each forming leaflet may be 
traced below the point where the division between the lobes 
or blades of the leaflets ceases, and they become as it were 
blended together ; for notwithstanding the confluence of the 
fibre and parenchyma of the leaflets below this point, their 
lateral veins still continue to be given off with the utmost 
regularity, even down to their point of divergence at the apex 
of the common petiole. The fibrous portion or framework 
of the forming leaflets is therefore perceptible in the common 
lamina or blade of the Castor-oil leaf; and it is not difficult 
to imagine the form that the leaflet would assume when fully 
developed and detached from its neighbor, as in the above 
case of Hubus villosus. But the further development of the 
leaflets of the Castor-oil leaf is arrested at this stage, and 
therefore they are never found separate. 

The coalescence or union of leaves or leaflets with each 
other in all instances results from a want of developmental 
vigor in that fibrous portion of their lamina, which constitutes 
their skeleton or framework ; hence, the most frequent cases 
of union or coalescence, occur among the floral leaves where 
the vegetative powers of the plant are' gradually expiring. 
Thus, when the sepals or leaves of the calyx, as also the petals 
or leaves of the corolla, coalesce, we have produced what is 
technically termed a monosepalous (or gamosepalous) calyx, 
and a monopetalous (or gamopetalous) corolla, as in the Bell- 
flower {Campanula Americana)] so, also, the metamorphosed 
pollen-bearing leaves termed stamens, situated immediately 
within the corolla, may unite with each other by their fila- 
ments and become monadelphous, as in the Mallow and 
Geranium, or by their anthers and become syngenesious, as 
in the Dandelion; or the filaments and anthers of all the 
stamens may unite and form a single organ, a sort of vagina 



114 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

or slieatli enclosing the pistil, as in the Cardinal flower {Lobe- 
lia Cardlncdis). In like manner, tlie still more highly organ- 
ized pollen-receiving leaves called pistils, which are the organs 
of the flower most centrally situated, coalesce sometimes by 
their ovaries, as in the Pink, or by their ovaries and styles, as 
in the Lily. And not only may there be a coalescence among 
the floral leaves of the same circle, but the different floral 
whorls or circles may themselves coalesce, or unite with each 
other, as is the case in the Asclejyias, or Silk-weed, where the 
union of the stamens and pistils forms the solid column in 
the centre of the flower. 

Hence plants whose floral leaves are still in a state of coa- 
lescence, and therefore only partially developed, are very 
properly considered in the Natural System of Botany as 
ranking lower than those whose floral leaves are free from 
each other and fully formed. It is evident that flowers whose 
sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils are each individually and 
completely formed and free from each other, and which de- 
velop on the same common rudimentary axis or receptacle, 
must be more highly organized than flowers whose petals and 
sepals, stamens and pistils are only half-developed, and there- 
fore still organically united mth each other. 

That the leaf should develop new leaflets from its margin, 
and that the new leaflets should remain connected with the 
parent foliole in different stages of formation, is only in ac- 
cordance with the same laws to which all the other organs 
of the plant are subjected. Thus if we regard the different 
species of cell or simple elementary parts of plants, we find 
that they generate cellules of the same nature as themselves, 
and that these cellules associated form the tissues of their 
more complex organs, such as their shoots and branches, 
which possess the same capacity for self-multiplication. For 
the first year's shoot produces from its lateral and terminal 
buds, shoots which are constructed in precisely the same 
manner ; and these again become individually parent shoots, 
until we have associated about a common axis a series of 
families of shoots or branches all actively engaged in repro- 
duction. The whole tree is therefore only a continuous series 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 115 

of successive generations of shoots, which, remain connected 
with each other and which have developed on the first year's 
shoot. Where is now that once slender anij flexible shoot 
which formed the growth of the first year and the basis or 
foundation of all the succeeding growths ? It has been meta- 
morphosed, through the labors of its numerous progeny, into 
a stem massive and unyielding, and the buds which adhered 
to its surface, after the fall of its leaves, have been replaced 
by wide-spread and powerful branches ! It is thus that the 
matter of the earth and atmosphere is attracted about a seed 
or germinating point, and successively moulded into cells, 
leaves, shoots, branchlets, and branches, until at length a form 
majestic and beautiful — a noble Tree is constructed. IIow far 
surpassing all the works of man, this wondrous living archi- 
tecture of Nature ! Ah ! man, thou canst go to Nature for 
instruction, copy her faithfully with thy pencil — but, mould 
thy material imitations as thou wilt, thou canst not give them 
life ! These are secrets which Nature has hidden from thee ! 

There is a wonderful unity and harmony pervading all 
the parts of these works of Nature, which result from the 
influences of tlie same general laws to which the cell, the 
leaf, the branch, and in fact the entire tree, are alike subject. 
Just as the whole tree consists of a union of branches of 
various growths, as the branches themselves are formed 
by a union of shoots which show an equal amount of varia- 
bility in the extent of their development, so the leaves them- 
selves, which construct the shoots, when simple, with an entire 
edge, fully formed and free from each, vary in figure and 
size on the same shoot. Even those leaves which manifest 
a disposition to self-multiplication, and which must be re- 
garded as transitional between the compound and simple, in 
tho different sizes of their lobes, teeth, crenatures, serratures, 
plainly show that the forming leaflets are endowed even from 
the beginning with a tendency to that variety of vegetative 
energy and impulse which is so well-marked a feature in the 
other organs. This is the cause of that pleasing and infinite 
variety of form assumed by the foliage of trees — that green 
and graceful drapery with which they are annually adorned. 



116 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

Therefore the truly simple leaf is the one with the entire 
edge, and all other leaves with any irregularities of margin, 
such as lobes, teeth, crenatures, etc., are transitional forms 
between simple and compound leaves. For such irregularities 
are in reality so many incipient advances to the compound 
condition of the lamina or blade of the leaf. 

It has been shown (page 112) that a leaf can develop other 
leaflets from its margin, and thus become a compound leaf. 
Now, when this process ceases in its first stages, and the 
apices of the new leaflets are only just visible on the margin 
of the parent leaf, then that margin is rendered serrulate, 
crenulate, denticulate ; or if the formative process is carried a 
little further, so as to render the summits of the new leaflets 
rather more apparent, then the leaf-margin is said to be ser- 
rate, crenate, dentate. 

In the lobed variety of leaf, the upper portion of the lamina 
of each leaflet is fully formed, and the number of forming 
leaflets, as well as the extent to which their formation has been 
carried, is expressed botanically by the terms bilobed, tri- 
lobed, quinque-lobed, etc. ; the words bipartite, tripartite, 
and quinque-partite are expressive of a still higher degree 
of development, and indicative of the formation of the greater 
portion of the lamina of the leaflets, and that their detach- 
ment from each other has been nearly carried down to their 
main petiole or support. 

If the reader compares the leaf of the False sycamore {Acer 
psendo-plaianus), Plate IV., Fig. 3, with that of the Castor-oil 
plant {Ricinus communis), Fig. 4, he will see that the transition 
from the one form of leaf to the other has been brought about 
by the partial development of the lamina of an additional leaf- 
let, and that the extra lobe thus formed fills up that sinus or 
opening which is left between the two lower lobes of the 
Sycamore leaf, and thus produces in the Castor-oil leaf the 
palmately lobed variety. The terms palmately- cleft and 
palmately-parted, point out a still further formation of the 
lamina of the leaflets, whose several bases nevertheless still 
remain in a state of coalescence. 

But in the digitate leaf of the Horse Chestnut {(Esculus 



FEOM SIMPLE LEAVES. 



117 







118 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

hippocastanum), Fig. 5, the separation of the leaflets has been 
carried down to the summit of the main petiole or support, 
for each leaflet is fully formed and therefore distinct from the 
leaflets on either side. The attention of the reader is called 
to the correspondence which subsists between the coalescing 
leaflets of the Castor-oil leaf and the free leaflets of the Horse 
Chestnut leaf, in size and in direction. It is evident that the 
general plan of structure is much the same in both, with this 
difference, that in the Castor-oil the leaflets, being only par- 
tially developed, still continue to coalesce with each other, 
whilst in the Horse Chestnut each leaflet is fully formed, and 
therefore separate and free. 

The passage of the digitate into the pinnate forms of com- 
pound leaf, is simply effected by the formation of a naked 
portion of stem between each pair of leaflets. Compare, in 
this respect, the leaf of the Horse Chestnut with that of the 
White-Heart Hickory {Carya iomentosa), Fig. 6. There is 
precisely the same correspondence subsisting between the 
leaflets of this digitate and pinnate variety of compound leaf, 
in size and in direction, as in the former case. We are justi- 
fied therefore in regarding the pinnate leaf as differing from 
the leaf that is digitate, only in the formation 'of those little 
intervals of midrib which separate its several pairs of leaflets ; 
for if we suppose them to become rudimentary, then these 
leaflets become crowded together at the top of a common 
petiole, and the pinnate at once passes into the digitate form, 
from which it can no longer be distinguished. 

The transition of the pinnate into the bipinnate form is a 
fact which has been long known to the world. This is well 
seen in the leaves of the common Locust-tree {Rohinia 'pseuda- 
cacia), Fig. 7, where, through the increased development of 
the costa, a, and its lateral fibres, h, the new costse, c, and a 
second set of leaflets, d, is produced. This second set of 
leaflets may in like manner produce another set, which is the 
case in the tripinnate variety of compound leaf; but here the 
vegetative power reaches its limit, for it is seldom, that the 
division goes beyond the third degree, although tripinnate 
leaves with their leaflets pinnatified are not uncommon. 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVE3. 119 

But the most instructive foliage is that of the Honey -Locust 
{OlecUtchia triacanthos), Fig. 8, Among the highly compound 
leaves of this plant, the intermediate transitional forms be- 
tween a pinnate, bipinnate, and tripinnate division of the 
lamina may be readily found. We have had one of them 
drawn. It will be seen, at a, that one side of the lamina of an 
individual of one of the pairs of pinnae has developed three 
new pinnules, and that two of them are only partially formed^ 
whilst the other side of the lamina retains its original appear- 
ance. The individual which is thus nearly half-formed into 
new pinnules differs hardly at all from the new pairs of pinnae 
in size ; and the reader will perceive at once tliat these pin- 
nules are five in number, and that this exactly corresponds 
with the number of pairs of pinnules into which the terminal 
and lower pairs of pinnre of the leaf have been developed. 
Surely such proof as this makes it clear enough, that the 
costa and side veins of a leaf may so develop that the former 
shall become a common axis or support for the latter, which 
shall constitute the midribs of new leaflets. 

Hitherto we have endeavored to prove that the irregularities 
along the margin of leaves, described by the technical terms 
serrate, crenate, dentate, etc., are to be attributed to an incipi- 
ent efltbrt at new leaflet-formation by the evidence of transi- 
tional forms, a mode of reasoning which we think Naturalists 
generally admit to be correct. But the same position may 
be established by showing the intimate nature of that connec- 
tion which subsists between the leaf and the other organs of 
the plant, that it is only a peculiar modification of the fibre 
and parenchyma of the branch to which it is attached, and 
governed by the same general laws in its development. 

According to Dr. McCosh, the celebrated author of the 
work entitled, " Typical Forms and Special Ends in Creation," 
there is a correspondence between "stem ramification and 
leaf ramification" in "the disposition and distribution of the 
branches, and the disposition and distribution of the leaf 
veins," and also " in the angle at which the branch goes off" 
from the stem, " and that at which the lateral veins go off" 
from the costa or midrib of the leaf. If this theory be true, 



120 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

then the same general laws which govern the development 
of the branch and its ramifications give form to its leaves, 
which exhibit in their midrib and its ramifications through 
the pareachyma of the blade, a miniature copy of the branch 
itspjf 

^t is undeniable that this theory of Dr. McCosh has been 
received with coldness and distrust by scientific men, although 
Professor BalTour, of Edinburg, has very properly given it a 
notice in hi? " Class Book of Botany," but without commit- 
ting himself as to its general soundness. In science it is not 
permitted to yield to imagination. If we would give currency 
to new truths, and obtain their endorsement as such by men 
filling a high and responsible public position, it must be seen 
that we have been guided solely by well-known and estab- 
lished facts in their development. There must be a stern 
determination to give a true and faithful portraiture of Nature 
and her operations, which, the more they are studied, the 
more they delight us by their grandeur and simplicity. 

But do we interpret Nature correctly when we say that 
the leaf is nothing but an expansion of the fibre and paren- 
chyma of the branch, that the ramifications of its fibrous 
portion or skeleton follow the same general laws as branch 
ramifications, that the leaf and branch are, in fact, homo- 
typal ? 

Of course it is understood that these general laws of stem 
or branch ramification are somewhat modified in the leaf. 
Thus in every tree there is a certain normal angle at which 
branches are given off from the stem, and this angle varies in 
different trees. For instance, in the Norway Spruce Fir 
{Ahies excelsa) the branches are drooping or pendulous, in 
the Hemlock Spruce (Abies Canadensis) they grow out hori- 
zontally from the stem, and in the Lombardy Poplar {Populus 
dilataia) their growth is almost vertical. Moreover, the angle 
which the branches make with the stem varies even in the 
same individual tree, for it not only increases with the age 
of the branch, but it is greatly modified by the position of 
the branches and the influence of surrounding agents. As a 
general rule, the lower branches of a tree grow more horizon- 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 121 

tally than those situated toward its top. All branches natu- 
rally tend to the light, and the inferior branches necessarily 
take this direction on account of the overshadowed position 
which they occupy. If the reader looks at the beech branch 
figured on page 33, he will see that the upper twigs or branch- 
lets develop from the main axis of the branch at an acuter 
angle than the lower twigs ; and let him at the same time bear 
in mind the fact, that the branch repeats, on a smaller scale, 
the type of the tree itself. 

If we regard the costa or midrib of the leaf as correspond- 
ing to the stem or principal axis of ramification of the tree, 
then the first and most prominent sets of fibrous fasciculi, 
which separate themselves from the midrib or principal 
fasciculus of the lamina or blade of the leaf, will correspond 
to the strongest and largest side-branches of the tree ; and it 
is obvious that in both instances the general figure or outline 
of both tree and leaf is determined by them. But whilst in 
a tree the angular inclination of the branches to the stem 
varies, in a leaf whose lamina or blade is not formed into 
distinct leaflets there is no such variation of the angular incli- 
nation of the principal veins to the costa or midrib, because 
the veinlets which would seem to correspond to the branchlets 
of the branch coalesce among themselves. Therefore there 
can be no change in the angle formed by the principal leaf- 
veins and costae, at any epoch in the development of the leaf, 
in such cases of leaf-organization, whatever correspondence 
there may be in other respects between their angular direc- 
tion and that of the leading branches of the tree. 

In compound leaves, however, which make a much nearer ap- 
proach to the organization of the branch in their structure, 
where the lamina of the principal leaf is developed into one or 
more generations of leaflets, light causes the angular inclinations 
of these leaflets or foliaceous hranchleis to vary slowly and con- 
tinuously at diiferent periods of the day, with reference to the 
midrib of the leaf, just as the same agent, acting for years on 
the main branches of a tree, changes their original angular in- 
clination with reference to the tree stem. Thus the leaves of 
the American Senna {Cassia Marilandica) and of the Honey- 



122 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

Locust {Oleditschia iriacanthos) hang doAyn witli the coming 
of the evening shades, and continue drooping through the 
night ; but as soon as 

" Night's candles have burned out, and jocund day 
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain's top," 

they gradually elevate themselves to their usual horizontal 
position. 

Another obvious distinction between stem ramification and 
leaf ramification, lies in the fact that the branches and branch- 
lets of a tree are all radially arranged or grow concentrically 
about its stem, whilst the veins and veinlets of a leaf take 
a symmetrical, bilateral arrangement on either side of its 
costte or midrib, and develop in the same plane, or, more 
correctly speaking, in a series of closely approximated 
planes. 

But in trees of a low order of organization, such as the 
Coniferoe, or cone-bearing family, to which the Pine, Fir, and 
Larch belong, the main stem is well-defined, and the branches, 
although disposed about it concentrically, are nevertheless 
arranged symmetrically. The branches of the Pine and Fir, 
for example, grow from their main trunk in verticils or 
whorls, because they develop from the axils of closely-suc- 
ceeding, spirally-arranged leaves, situated in the immediate 
neighborhood of the terminal bud, from which the main 
trunk proceeds each season. In consequence of the urging 
of the formative power toward the top of each year's growth 
of the leading axis, all its inferior lateral buds are suppressed, 
and whorls of branches are produced with naked intervals of 
stem between them. Now, if we imagine a vertical plane to 
descend through the main axis or stem of one of these trees, 
we will suppose it to be the Norway Spruce {Abies excelsa), 
so as to divide the tree exactly from top to bottom, it is evi- 
dent that this tree, like the body of man or of an animal, 
would be divided into two perfectly symmetrical halves, 
which joined together would make one complete symmetrical 
whole. 

In addition to this, the branchlets which proceed from the 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 123 

branches thus concentrically disposed about the main trunk 
are arranged not only symmetrically but bilaterally, the two 
sides of each branch, like those of the leaf, being counterparts 
of each other. This remark applies to branches with droop- 
ing branchlets, as well as to those which spread out horizon- 
tally from the sides of the branch. For the leaves which are 
arranged concentrically about the trunk assume a bilateral 
distribution on the branches in proportion to the increase in 
the amount of their horizontal development ; and in the lowest 
branches, whose growth is most horizontal, the leaves drop 
from the under surface, or such as remain there curve round 
to the sides of the branch for light, so that they are mainly con- 
fined to its upper surface and two sides. Now it is plain 
enough that the axillae of the leaves situated on the upper 
side of the branches would be bad starting points for grow- 
ing shoots ; and for this reason the upper side leaves remain 
sterile. Therefore this bilateral arrangement of the branch- 
lets or side-growths of the branches, is the natural result of 
their horizontal growth and their overshadowed position, for 
branches always develop their branchlets in those directions 
where there is the most space and light. 

Again, in the Beech, Linden, Hazel, Elm, and Hornbeam, 
this bilateral symmetry of the branches holds not only for 
the ramifications of the secondary axis but for the whole 
tree during the first years of its life. For these branches 
proceed from buds which are developed by alternate, dis- 
tichous, or two-ranked leaves; hence, in the Spring of the 
second year they will necessarily lie in one plane, like the 
beard of a feather. This is well seen in the second year's 
growth of the Linden {Tilia Americana)] but in the Beech 
this branch symmetry is preserved still longer, even until the 
tree has attained a considerable height above the ground. 
Nevertheless, as the tree continues to grow, it is subjected on 
all sides to the influence of surrounding agents, especially 
light, and the result is that the branches depart from their 
original symmetrical position, and tend to arrange them- 
selves concentrically so as to receive the greatest amount of its 
influence. 



124: DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

The symmetrical bilateral arrangement of the brandies 
therefore disappears as the tree gets older, and it is still 
further concealed by the tendency of the concentric growth 
of the whole tree to repeat itself in the leading branches. 
This tendency very frequently manifests itself. Cases where 
two or more similarly-formed stems spring from the same 
common stock, whose branches are all concentrically disposed, 
are quite common in the woods. In fact, whenever a Beech- 
tree (Fag us ferruginea) is old and well- developed, two prin- 
cipal forms or prototypes may be distinguished within the 
crown. The one, the form of the tree itself, only less devel- 
oped, in the concentric growth of the leading branches into 
which its smooth, silvery-gray yet massive stem divides ; the 
other, the form of the leaf: for the fibrous portion or skeleton 
of that organ, only greatly enlarged and developed, has its 
counterpart in the symmetrical, flattened, spread-out, but less 
powerful branches of the tree. 

These facts would seem to indicate that the leaf, whose 
existence and development in relation to the axis is entirely 
secondary and subordinate, is in reality the prototype accord- 
ing to which the tree itself is constructed, which type repeats 
itself in each individual branch — that is to say, each branch 
represents, prefigures, and copies it. 

The leaf may therefore be regarded as nothing but a pecu- 
liar modification of the fibre and parenchyma of the branch 
which it is engaged in constructing ; and the fibre ramifies 
through its parenchyma as the branch ramifies through the 
atmosphere — the same general laws being followed in the 
distribution of the veins and veinlets. 

This truth will be more apparent if we consider the scheme 
of a system of shoots or of branch ramifications, and the law 
of their development a,nd association. In the first place, the 
primary axis of such a system preponderates in length over 
the first generation of side axes ; and there is also a propor- 
tionate decrease, not only in the length of the side axes, but 
also in the number of vitally-active buds which they produce, 
and consequently in the extent to which their ramifications 
are carried. The vegetative power of the branch in fact 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 125 

diminishes witti each succeeding generation of shoots, until 
at length it approaches its limit in buds, which unfold year 
after year into mere clusters of leaves. The bud traces on 
such shoots follow each other in close order, the leaf scars 
are reduced in size, and finally the terminal bud becomes 
abortive, and all further growth in that direction is necessarily 
arrested. There is also a well-marked remission of growth 
in the direction of the main axis of the branch. For after a 
certain point of time in the development of the main axis, the 
growth it makes each year becomes less and less ; and this is 
accompanied by a loss of ramifying power in the families of 
shoots which it developes laterally, so that there is an exact 
correspondence subsisting between the loss of vegetative 
power in the branches of the upper region of the principal 
axis, and in the second and third generation of shoots devel- 
oped by the branches of its lower region. 

The same laws of remission of growth from one generation 
to another manifest themselves in the structure of herbaceous 
plants, which branch or repeat themselves in the axilla of their 
leaves, one, two, or even three generations of branches being 
developed during the same season. If this process of ramifi- 
cation is examined in the common St. John's Wort {Hypericum 
perforatum), or any other branching herbaceous plant, it will 
be evident that these successive side-productions are only 
repetitions of the whole plant on a constantly diminishing 
scale of magnitude, and that there is a beautiful symmetry 
apparent throughout the whole of them. For the branches 
given off from the axilla of the opposite pairs of leaves which 
clothe the stem of the primary axis, not only meet the axis 
at the same angle, but the lower branches are less developed 
than the upper branches, whose leaves are carried forward to 
the highest stage of vegetative metamorphoses and terminate 
in flowers. Hence there is only one generation of branches 
developed from the axillae of the lower leaves of the primary 
axis, whilst the leaves situated toward its summit develop two 
generations ; and as each branch terminates in a flower, its 
growth necessarily ceases. Herbaceous plants therefore follow 
precisely the same laws of ramification as the trees which 



126 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

overshadow tliem. They differ, however, in one particular. 
The first and subsequent generations of side shoots in trees 
are formed in embryo the first year, enveloped beneath the 
covering leaves of a winter's bud through the cold season, 
and develop as shoots the second year ; but herbaceous plants 
are without these covering leaves. They need them not, 
because they develop all their branches in one season. This 
activity of the ramifying process the first season undoubtedly 
must tend to exhaust the vegetative powers of the herbaceous 
axis, so that the period of puberty arrives in a few weeks or 
months, and the plant flowers, forms its seed, and thus 
rapidly passes through the same cycle of life-changes which, 
in trees, it takes centuries to perfect and fulfill. 

We are now fairly in a position to show that leaf ramifica- 
tion is governed by the same general laws as stem ramification. 
Assuming that the midrib and petiole of the leaf, when it 
possesses one, corresponds to the leading or primary axis of 
the branch, then the first and most prominent sets of fibrous 
fasciculi which separate themselves from the midrib will also 
correspond with the powerful side axes of the first order in 
the branch ; and where the fibrous portion of the leaf takes 
a high degree of development, as is the case in compound 
leaves, there is in the leaf precisely the same tendency to a 
repetition of itself, on a smaller scale of architecture, as there 
is in the branch, and one or more generations of leaflets will 
be formed, whose fibrous ramifications, like those of successive 
generations of branchlets, are more and more retarded, until 
finally the vegetative powers of both leaf and branch are 
reduced to zero. 

Again, the stem and branches of the tree are all conical ly 
constructed, tapering toward their extremities. In like man- 
ner, the bundles of fibre which ramify through the green bark 
or parenchyma of leaves are equally tapering. The midrib 
or main fasciculus of fibres decreases in diameter from the 
base to the apex of the leaf, as the enveloping layers of fibre 
separate from each other. In such leaves as those of the 
Chestnut, all further ramification is at once stopped by the 
anastomosis of the fibres amongst themselves, the parenchy 



FROM STMPLE LEAVES. 127 

matous areola or interspaces between tlie fibres becoming 
continually smaller as tliey approach their ultimate ramifica- 
tions ; but where development is carried further, as in pinnate 
and bipinnate forms, there is -the same conical and attenuated 
fibrous structure, and the same ultimate anastomosis of the 
fibre when the developmental power of the leaflet has reached 
its limit, just as in the simple leaf with the entire edge, where 
the vegetative power of the fibre of the leaf is reduced to a 
minimum, and the fibres, by consequence, anastomose among 
themselves before they come to the margin of the leaf. 

The same laws of lateral or marginal leaf development 
manifest themselves amongst leaves even when they are still 
in a state of anastomosis, or only partially formed and sepa- 
rated from each other. One, two, or even three generations 
of partially-formed folioles may develop and remain associated 
with each oiher, producing the bipinnated or tripinnated 
forms, as is the case in the leaves of Ambrosia artemisi<xfolin^ 
or Eoman Wormwood. And just as the branch is only the 
tree itself on a smaller scale, representing a certain stage of 
development through which the tree has already passed, and, 
if severed from the stem and planted in the soil, would repre- 
sent its exact condition during one period of its life, so a 
careful comparison of the entire foliole with its collaterals, 
proves that these collaterals are only incipient repetitions of 
the entire foliole, and that they hold to it the same relation- 
ship as the branchlets owe to the parent branch, and follow 
the same law of retarded development — and which is alike 
visible in the rugged and gigantic branches of the lofty tree 
which endures for centuries, despite the fiercest onsets of the 
elements, and in the delicate fibrous ramifications of the leaf, 
which a single night's frost can kill. Such is the grandeur 
and simplicity of natural law. Correctly interpreted, we see 
in the fibrous ramifications of the leaf a miniature or rather 
model exemplification of those very natural laws which, ope- 
rating on a more enlarged scale, build up the powerful 
branches of the tree, with their innumerable branchlets. 

The accuracy of this reasoning will be rendered clear and 
intelligible by Fig. 9, which represents a leaf of Kolreuteria 



128 DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOUND 

paniculaia, a beautiful Chinese shrub, cultivated in sheltered 
situations, for the sake of its elegant leaves and panicles of 
yellow flowers. In the leaves of this plant, the different stages 
in the process of new leaflet-formation may be traced at a 
glance. There is apparent that retarded development of the 
leaf ramifications in the first, second, and third generations of 
forming leaflets (Figs. 1, 2, 3), which spring from the primary 
axis or costse of the leaf; it will also be perceived that the out- 
line figure of the side leaflets corresponds to that of the primary 
or parent leaf, from which they differ only in size, being only 
a repetition of the parent leaf on a smaller scale. Thus the 
lateral fibres given off from the primary costa or main folia- 
ceous axis of the leaf, gradually decrease in size from the 
middle to the apex and base of the leaf; it is the same with 
the fibrous bundles given off from the secondary costse : these 
are the most developed toward the middle of each leaflet; 
hence, toward their summits, the leaflets of the second genera- 
tion are still in a state of anastomosis, or only partially formed. 
The lowest leaflets of this generation are the most completely 
developed ; but they are sessile, their petiole is rudimentary, 
and the vegetative power is so enfeebled in the upper leaflets, 
that the parenchyma is increasingly decurrent along the line 
of the costse. These lower lateral leaflets are therefore clearly 
only the secondary leaflets arrested at a still lower stage of 
their development. If we examine them carefully, we shall 
find that the lateral fibres proceeding from their costse or 
midribs produce the sharp incisions of their margin. These 
sharp points are therefore the tops of the new leaflets of the 
third generation, and by consequence the last expiring efforts 
at new leaflet-formation. The marginal development of new 
leaflets, like the lateral development of new branchlets, is 
here reduced to a minimum, being arrested in its first stages. 
There is a Comparative Anatomy of Plants as well as of 
Animals, which has yet been only indifferently studied. More 
careful researches are necessary in this interesting field. The 
gradual simplification of leaf-structure in the neighborhood 
of the flower, the result of a loss of vegetative energy in the 
leaf, and the antagonism of reproduction, is a fact in Vegetable 



FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 



Mr 



129 




130 FROM SIMPLE LEAVES. 

Morphology whicli has never yet been traced out to its legiti- 
mate consequences. It has an important bearing on our 
knowledge of leaf forms. It connects them with each other, 
through all their polymorphous varieties, in bonds which are 
indissoluble. An attempt has been made in this Chapter to 
take the first steps in these researches. The writer claims no 
credit beyond the exercise of that more than ordinary patience 
and care, so necessary to successful explorations in a new 
field. May the truths enunciated, however imperfectly estab- 
lished, give a new impulse to botanical inquiries. Between 
the sitjiple leaf with the entire edge, and the most highly 
compound leaf, there is every intermediate variety of transi- 
tional forms. The important law of leaf simplification in the 
neighborhood of the flower, like the clue of Ariadne, will 
guide us through this Cretan labyrinth, and show the sim- 
plicity, and, at the same time, the variety of Nature. It is 
only necessary for the above law to be fully apppreciated in 
all its bearings, and one of the driest and most technical 
portions of Botanical science will be rendered deeply inter- 
esting and instructive. 

In closing this Chaj)ter, it seems to me to be proper to tell 
the reader, that the opinions which it contains are conclusions 
which I have felt to be absolutely unavoidable. They are 
certainly novelties in the science of Botany, the boundaries 
of which are very susceptible of enlargement, if a greater 
amount of self-reliance is exercised, patience is cultivated, 
and Nature is studied. These new truths are so interesting, 
that even if there should be only a minimum of scientific and 
literary merit about this Chapter, I have no doubt that the 
attention of Botanists will be attracted to the subject. I only 
hope that this may be so. I have written, I trust, guardedly 
and earnestly. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION" AS RECORDED 
IN THE STRATA OF THE EARTH, SHOWING THAT THE 
TREES WHICH NOW COVER ITS SURFACE WERE NOT ALL 
CREATED AT THE SAME TIME, BUT WERE INTRODUCED AS 
THE EARTH BECAME FITTED FOR THEIR RECEPTION — TREES 
WERE CREATED IN SUCCESSION — THOSE OF A LOW TYPE 
OF ORGANIZATION ARE THE MOST ANCIENT INHABITANTS 
OF THE GLOBE — THE MORE HIGHLY ORGANIZED TREES 
HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED AT A COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING 
MODERN GEOLOGICAL EPOCH. 

Just as a tree contains in the woody layers of its stem a 
record of its progressive life-history through the past years 
of its existence, so with the organism of the earth. We have 
recorded, in its strata, a faithful account of the progress of 
Creation, a history of those physical and organic changes 
which the earth has undergone, with this difference, that the 
time expended in producing them is to be estimated not by 
years, but by myriads of ages, periods of duration all but 
infinite — fragments of eternity. The History of Creation 
has, in fact, been written in the rocks, which may be regarded 
as so many separate volumes laid up in the library of Nature. 
To interpret correctly the language in which this history is 
written, requires the highest attainments in Natural History 
and Physics. It has up to the present time been only par- 
tially interpreted. The following facts have, however, been 
fully elicited. 

All the elements which enter into the composition of the 
solid and fluid parts of the earth once existed uncombined, 
and in the gaseous form. The earth was, during this epoch, 
an immense sphere of gaseous matter. In the course of vast 

(131) 



132 EELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

periods of time, the attractive forces gradually predominated 
over the repulsive, the nebulous matter condensed about a 
common centre, evolved heat and light, and the earth became 
a radiant star or self-luminous bodv. Another cycle of ages 
elapsed, during which there was a continual loss of heat from 
the surface by free radiation into the stellar spaces ; and that 
surface was ultimately cooled down to the solid crust which 
now envelopes the fiery nucleus. The earth is therefore an 
opaque or dark body ; and if these views be correct, it is an 
extinguished star. 

About the time that the sohd mantle of rock was formed 
through the cooling of the earth's crust, the air and water 
were probably separated, the atmosphere was charged with 
carbonic acid, and the clouds burst in violent showers of rain, 
originating a hot salt sea. The rind continued to grow thicker 
as the cooling process went on. In the meanwhile, it became 
necessarily fissured or cracked in many places, and an uneven 
surface thus originated, with elevations and depressions and 
openings, through which poured itself a part of the fiery 
contents of the earth's nucleus. The earth during this period 
was covered with an immense number of volcanoes, which 
were coDstantly engaged in throwing up showers of ashes, 
incandescent rocks and melted lava, thus increasing the in- 
equalities of the surface, and forming, in connection with the 
operation of the boiling waters of these ancient seas, the 
laminated or slaty rocks known to Geologists as gneiss, mica- 
slate, and talcose-slate. Their formation closed the first great 
geological period, the Azoic period. 

Sublime and terrible must have been the scenery during 
this epoch ; innumerable active volcanoes incessantly thunder- 
ing, and illuminating the darkened heavens with their raging 
fires. In such a condition of things, it was impossible that 
organic bodies, animals and plants, should exist, and accord- 
ingly we find no traces of them in these ancient rocks. 

In order for living beings to difiuse themselves over the 
earth, the temperature must be lessened, and an earthy soil 
must be created, on which plants can grow, and through them 
animals be nourished. Plants live on inorganic matter, on 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 133 

"water, carbonic acid, ammonia, and certain salts ; animals, on 
the contrary, require plants and other animals for their ex- 
istence. Such a soil forms itself only in the course of ages, 
out of the underlying rocks. Through the chemical influence 
of the air, and the solvent and mechanical power of the rains, 
the rocky surface was gradually broken up, and the loose 
material was either left lying on the surface, or, driven along 
by torrents of water, was deposited in other places at a dist- 
ance. Eocks composed of matter which has thus been de- 
posited from water are called sedimentary rocks, and we find 
first in the most ancient of these rocks the remains of plants 
and animals, the so-called fossils. 

The time occupied in the formation of these ancient deposits 
is called for this reason by Geologists the Palaeozoic period, 
because they contain the first germs of higher organic forms, 
and are the repository of its most ancient life. The Cambrian, 
Silurian, and Devonian formations are the oldest historical 
rocks, and the fossils which they contain prove that the earth 
was at this time no Eden, but, on the contrary, a monstrous 
muddy swamp. Water appears to have predominated over 
the land. Among animals the fish held the highest rank. 
There was an abundance of shell-fish and corals, and a crusta- 
ceous swimming animal called a trilobite. The air contained 
a great amount of carbonic acid gas. 

The plants belong to the Cryptogamous or flowerless divi- 
sion, and are decidedly low in organization. They consist of 
gigantic calamites, plants allied to the horsetail [Equisetum)^ 
ferns, and arborescent club-mosses {Lycopodium), called Lepi- 
dodendra — in fact, such plants as are found now in swamps, 
and whose size is at present very diminutive. An al- 
most endless ocean yet covered the earth's surface. Only 
here and there an island was visible, rugged and torn, and 
which the first ofi'spring of the young creation covered. Land 
was, indeed, created, and the waves of these ancient seas broke 
against the rocks as now, and plowed out for themselves gulfs 
and bays. In the interior of the earth the wild efforts and 
strength of the fire had, in some measure, abated. The vol- 
canoes were less numerous. Yet the blue heavens were not 



134 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

visible through the cloudy atmosphere. Dense vapors arose 
from the ocean, and fell in violent showers over the land, 
returning back to that reservoir in ten thousand roaring 
torrents. This period has been called by Agassiz the Age 
of Fishes. There were neither reptiles, birds, nor mammals 
then in existence. 

Toward tTie close of the Palaeozoic period, the earth appears 
to have presented the appearance of one vast archipelago, or 
collection of islands, and vegetation was developed on the 
grandest scale. It was during this epoch that the coal was 
deposited, as only on the coasts of tropical islands could such 
plants grow as are found fossil in the coal formation. The 
vegetable remains are mostly found, not in the coal, but in 
the accompanying clayey and sandy soil with which the coal 
is interstratified. 

From tkese remains it can be proved that splendid forests 
grew on the boggy soil of these islands. Here elevated itself 
a tree fern, its summit penetrating the dark clouds which 
obscured the heavens ; there, a gigantic lycopodium or club 
moss. Calamites and equisetacese were abundant; and, in 
addition to this, we find traces of coniferous plants, or plants 
allied to the Fir tree, and resembling the Norfolk Island Pine, 
{Araucaria excelsa.) Barren uniformity, however, marked 
the character of these forests. Only seven hundred and fifty 
plants are at present known to Naturalists, which were at this 
time diffused over the whole earth; whilst to-day, in Europe, 
one of the smallest d visions of the earth, more than ten thou- 
sand species are known. The earth at the time of the stone- 
coal formation was yet too warm for the sun's rays to produce 
any essential influence on the climatic conditions. The tem- 
perature was pretty much the same all over the earth. Hence 
the stone-coal plants are the same, although found in coun- 
tries thousands of miles apart. Even the poles of the earth 
were covered with a tropical vegetation, although now cooled 
down so as to be covered with a mantle of everlasting ice and 
snow. This opinion has been advanced by some Naturalists ; 
but as light is nessary to the formation of plants, and as the 
poles are deprived of its influence during a part of the 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 135 

year, tliis opinion must be received with some degree of 
restriction. 

The animals of the Stone-coal period resemble in many 
respects those of the preceding formations. The crustaceans 
have, however, improved. In addition to the trilobites, we 
have the horse-shoe crabs, and other gigantic forms. We also 
meet with traces of insects and scorpions. These appear to 
have been the only inhabitants of these swampy forests. No 
mammalia pastured beneath their shade ; no birds warbled 
forth their melody, or nestled amongst the branches of these 
leafless, flowerless trees. Trees with true leaves and flowers 
had not made their appearance. The atmosphere was not yet 
fitted for their growth. With the exception of the Fir-trees, 
with their needle-shaped leaves, the vegetation was wholly 
cryptogamous, and decidedly low in organization. Every 
Botanist who examines the coal plants is necessarily impelled 
to this conclusion. There is no denying the evidence of the 
rocks. 

The Palaeozoic rocks, which contain the fossil remains of 
the first inhabitants of the earth, extend from the Cambrian 
formation as far as the Magnesian limestone, which lies above 
the coal, and, together with the Old Eed Sandstone, constitutes 
the Zechstein formation of the German geologists. 

A careful examination of the fossil remains found in these 
rocks, by the most distinguished Naturalists, has developed 
the interesting fact, that the first inhabitants of the world were 
a few sea-weed zoophytes and shell-fish, and that, throughout 
the whole of the immense period of time occupied in the 
formation of these rocks, vegetation did not advance farther 
than the Coniferas or Pine family, the highest rank of the 
animal creation being a low order of fishes. 

The period immediately succeeding the Stone-coal era was 
characterized by great volcanic activity : the rocks were up- 
heaved, and storm and annihilation swept over the island- 
forests of the Stone-coal landscape, millions of gigantic trees 
being buried beneath the raging floods. 

The great amount of carbonic acid removed from the atmo- 
sphere by the luxuriant vegetation thus entombed, rendered 



136 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

the air purer and fitted for the respiration of a higher order 
of animals. At length appeared the first inhabitant of the 
land — a reptile 1 It is well known to Naturalists that in 
reptiles and fishes the venous and arterial blood become mixed 
together, the former being only partially returned to the lungs. 
The respiration in these creatures is therefore imperfect, or 
the blood is only partially oxygenated. Now, as the condition 
of the atmosphere was such as to furnish life only to reptiles, 
which do not require much oxygen, the presumption is, that 
carbonic acid was still the predominating element. Man would 
have been stifled at once in such a world. And this state of 
things appears to have continued throughout the whole of 
that vast interval of time immediately succeeding the deposi- 
tion of the Palaeozoic rocks, which is called by Geologists the 
Secondary Formation, and which Agassiz has very appro- 
priately termed the " Age of Reptiles." This period includes 
all the rock-formations from the New Red Sandstone to the 
Chalk. 

During all this time, the land was not continental, but the 
earth continued to exhibit the appearance of an archipelago 
of greater and smaller islands, which were generally without 
mountains, presenting a low, flat surface. Naturalists are 
forced to these conclusions by the consideration of the fossil 
remains of plants and animals contained in the Secondary 
rocks. This swampy condition of things undoubtedly pre- 
vailed throughout the early part of the Secondary era ; but 
afterward elevated table-lands, mountains, and hills diversified 
the features of the landscape, the land continually encroaching 
on the territories of the watery element, which, nevertheless, 
still occupied the greater portion of the earth's surface. 

Hence it is that the predominant forms are amphibious 
reptiles of monstrous size, which probably took their maxi- 
mum development during the Oolitic period, creatures fitted 
to inhabit both land and water. The birds, too, appear to 
have been gigantic, and to have belonged to the class of 
waders, which at present tenant low, swampy grounds on the 
margin of rivers and bays. This is proved by their long 
bones and immense strides. Professor Hitchcock discovered 



EELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 137 

the impressiou of the feet of the wading birds in the New Ked 
Sandstone of Connecticut. These impressions are some of 
them eighteen inches in length and five feet apart, so that 
the birds making them must have far exceeded in size the 
largest African ostrich. All traces of mammalia are totally 
absent from the New Eed Sandstone, the Muschelchalk, and 
Keuper, and are first found in the slates of Stone fields, in 
the upper stages of the Oolitic formations. 

The plants found in the Secondary rocks must be regarded 
as a flora intermediate between the plants of the Palaeozoic 
rocks and the Tertiary formation. Ferns and club-mosses 
are not so abundant, and less gigantic in their growth ; and, 
in addition to these, we meet with a great number of Coniferce 
and Cycadaceos, or plants allied to the Cicas revoluia, or Sago 
Palm, which is a common though somewhat costly ornament 
of the conservatory. The stems of the Cycadaceae reached at 
this time a height of from four to thirty-six feet, for stems as 
long as that have been found ; but at present three feet is the 
maximum length of the stems of these plants, which are not 
so numerous as formerly, as they have been to some extent 
superseded by the Palm, a plant which is related to them but 
far more highly organized. 

We have clear proof, from vegetable remains found in the 
Lias and Oolitic rocks, of a landscape diversified by hills and 
valleys. The remains of Pine-trees, which usually develop 
on a dry, poor soil, are found, along with the fruit and leaves 
of Zamias plants belonging to the Cycadaceae, which require 
moisture and heat in order to grow, by which we are forcibly 
reminded of a hilly if not mountainous landscape within the 
tropics. The Pines would grow on the hills, or elevated 
lands of the islands, which were probably wooded to their 
summit, whilst the Cycadaceae, the ferns, club-mosses, and 
horse-tails, would grow on the low lands which surrounded 
them. 

In the Chalk rocks especially are the vegetable remains 
interesting. We find here the remains of plants with true 
leaves, and the first trees of this kind turn out to be Willows / 
which it is i;vell known will develop in a poor soil provided 



138 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

there is the requisite amount of moisture. In addition to the 
leaves of the Willow, those of the Elm and Maple trees have 
been found. We also meet with fragments of dicotyledonous 
wood, marked by perforations of marine animals. 

With the Chalk we close, as it were, the second great series 
of volumes of the history of the animal and vegetable crea- 
tion. Every thing up to this point belongs to the past. The 
fossils, both animal and vegetable, all belong to species no 
longer in existence ; they are the fossil remains of extinct spe- 
cies. With the commencement of the Tertiary formation a 
new condition of things obtains, and new forms of life make 
their appearance, beautifully adapted to the ever-changing 
landscape, some of them belonging to species now in existence, 
and occupy the places of that organized life which has forever 
passed away. 

We have shown that in the earlier periods of the earth's 
formation the climate was nearly uniform over the whole 
earth, because it was not determined by the sun, but by the 
interior heat of the earth. In the Secondary epoch the influ- 
ence of the sun was hardly yet felt, although the earth had so 
far cooled as to be more susceptible to outward influences, 
and the atmosphere had become, comparatively speaking, 
clearer and more pure. But at the time of the formation of 
the Tertiary beds, the earth had cooled to such a degree that 
the effects produced by its internal heat had almost entirely 
ceased, and the heat received by its surface was mainly derived 
from the sun. Then arose that diversity of climate which is 
characteristic of the present creation. The sun gradually ac- 
quired his rightful empire over the world, and all Nature 
became dependent on his kindly influences. 

The poles of the earth, which obtain the least amount of 
sunlight, were necessarily cooled more rapidly than the beds 
of land at the equator, where the greatest amount of light and 
heat is received, whilst the zone intermediate between the 
polar and equatorial regions, where the conditions calculated 
to develope a superior race most abound, became, in course 
of time, fitted for the reception of humanity, science, and 
civilization. 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL AjS^TIQUITY OF TREES. 139 

With this gradual increase in the variety of the external 
conditions, the dull uniformity of former creations passed 
away ; and as the difference of temperature in the several re- 
gions of the earth slowly increased, there became gradually 
organized that immense variety of animals and plants which 
now occupy the air, the earth, and the water. 

Hence it is that the Tertiary fossils consist of the remains 
of species now in existence, intermingled with such as have 
become extinct. Sir Charles Lyell, the English geologist, has 
proposed a classification of the Tertiary beds, based on the 
relative proportion of extinct and recent species found among 
the fossils of each formation, which has been generally adopted. 
He divides the Tertiary group into the Eocene, Miocene, and 
Pliocene formations. These three words originate from the 
Greek. Eocene is derived from Gr. eos twilight and kainos 
recent, which designates very beautifully the commencement 
of this new geological period, as the morning rays of the 
present creation. Miocene from Gr. meion less, and Jcainos ; 
and Pleiocene from Gr. ijleion more and Jcainos. 

It is probable that there was very little ice formed in the 
northern hemisphere until about the close of the Tertiary 
epoch ; because the plants found in the Tertiary beds clearly 
indicate the prevalence of a much higher temperature within 
the temperate zones than that which now exists there. Both 
London and Paris stand on the Tertiary strata. The same 
formations are also met with in Hampshire, and in the Isle of 
"Wight, England, and in the South of Europe, Asia, and 
America. 

The plants found in the Tertiary beds are totally different 
from those which are obtained from the Palaeozoic and Second- 
ary rocks. The land appears to have been richly clothed 
with a vegetation not very different from that which prevails 
in warm climates at the present day. The leaves of the Elm, 
Maple, Beech, Poplar, Oak, and other modern forest trees have 
been found ; also pieces of wood which present the structure 
of pepper plants and palms. The fossil plants of the Isle of 
Sheppey, which is situated near the English coast, have been 
examined by Bowerbank, and have led to the determination 



140 KELATIYE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

of several hundred species of plants, all of tliem extinct, and 
all resembling plants of warmer climates. 

During tliese geological periods, the marine or amphibian 
reptiles of the Secondary rocks were replaced by numerous 
mammalia of enormous size. This era has therefore been 
called by Agassiz, the " Age of Mammals." 

If we would form for ourselves an idea approximating to a 
true conception of the appearance which the earth presented 
during this era, we must consider the land as still partially 
insular, or a loosely-connected group of islands, covered with 
low volcanoes. The problem, what is it ? To unite more and 
more the solid land and to restrain the oceanic life. Through 
the influence of air and light shall the life on the land be in- 
creased, and the life developed by the waters be circumscribed ; 
and through the influence of a diversity of climate, a greater 
variety in creation shall be produced, and thus the regular 
powers of Nature be brought to work together harmoniously. 

The climate of the northern hemisphere, which had been, 
during the Tertiary epoch, considerably warmer than now, so 
as to allow the growth of palm trees in our present temperate 
zones, became much colder toward the end of that period, in 
consequence of the gradual accumulation of snow and ice at 
the poles. The ice formation began manifestly about this 
time, for as we go further back into the history of the earth, 
through the Tertiary deposits to the time of the Chalk forma- 
tion, we find neither erratic blocks, nor any indications of the 
marks of glaciers ; on the contrary, the proofs become more 
and more apparent, that the earth in these earlier epochs was 
much warmer than it is at present. Hence the appearance of 
ice at the poles and on the summits of mountains must be re- 
garded as comparatively speaking a recent event in the history 
of creation, and is contemporaneous with some of the last 
revolutions to which the earth has been subjected. 

The glacial or ice period is considered to have produced 
those numerous detached fragments of foreign rocks which 
we find scattered over the surface of the soil, and which are 
known under the name of erratics, boulders, or grey-heads. 
These drift materials are called Diluvium, as their transporta- 



EELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TEEES. 141 

tion to their several locations was erroneously attributed to the 
Noachian deluge, which name they nevertheless still retain, 
although it is now certain that they have been conveyed 
thither by icebergs, or glaciers, which have been borne by 
the currents of the ocean southward from the poles, or have 
descended from the summit of the mountains into the adjacent 
valleys. These glaciers are always loaded with heaps of gravel 
or blocks of stone, and as they come down from the regions 
of perpetual frost and snow into warmer countries, the ice 
necssarily melts, and the gravel and blocks are left ]ying on 
the earth's surface. 

The commencement of the Diluvial epoch was probably 
ushered in by the volcano and earthquake. The sea showed 
its gigantic power, covering with its waves the land, which 
was now torn and uplifted into mountain chains, whose lofty 
summits were whitened with the snows of a perpetual winter. 
The glaciers or deposits of snow on these mountains descended 
much further into the valleys than at the present time, and 
the polar glaciers probably advanced further South. The 
temperature of the North pole was about the same as the 
present temperature of the South pole, which is described by 
all Arctic explorers to be the most inaccessible. 

The prodigious forces then called into exercise at this era 
are seen in the unusual majesty of these mountain chains ; 
forces, in comparison with which, the physical power put forth 
by the mightiest nations of the earth is as the feebleness of 
infancy. 

When volcanoes thunder and blaze — when earthquakes 
rend and pile up granite rocks above the region of the clouds, 
in such a presence shall mortal man boast of his exertions of 
physical power ? What mathematician can even begin to cal- 
culate the vast forces of nature which have been called into 
exercise in the formation of a mountainous landscape '/ Stand 
under the uplifted rocks, and contrast the mightiest displays 
of human power with these exhibitions of the secret energies 
of Nature ! Amid such manifestations of Almighty power, 
humility of mind and silent adoration is true philosophy. To 
a mind capable of appreciating these forces in their grandeur, 



142 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

such a state of feeling is the inevitable result of these sublime 
" Aspects of Nature," 

The annual melting of the snows on the summits of the 
mountains furnished perpetual supplies of water, which in the 
form of springs, rivulets, or mountain cataracts, descended 
to lower levels, irrigating the richlj-wooded valleys ; or a 
thousand little tributary streamlets, which are always governed 
in the directions which they take by the inequalities of the 
ground over which they move, all poured together their tribu- 
tary waters, until finally they formed the great rivers of the 
earth which now perpetually roll along to the ocean. Many 
of the animals of this period, such as the hyena and bear, 
lived in caves. In the famous cavern at Kirkdale, in York- 
shire, England, " parts of the skeletons of from two to three 
hundred hyenas have been detected, mixed with portions of 
the osseous framework of the cave-tiger, the cave-bear, the ox, 
the deer, the mammoth, and the rhinoceros."" 

So far no human remains have been discovered, no skeletons 
except those of the hitherto irrational denizens of the earth. 
Human skeletons are only found in modern fluviatile and ma- 
rine deposits, along with the bones of the existing species of 
animals, and of the leaves and branches of plants now grow- 
ing on the earth's surface, or they occur in those ancient reposi- 
tories of the dead called, by antiquarians, barrows or tumuli. 
Man is therefore, comparatively speaking, a recent creation. 

The occurrence of human skeletons in modern fluviatile de- 
posits, accompanied by coins and works of art, the preserva- 
tion of the bones of the existing species of animals, and of the 
leaves and branches of plants now growing on the earth's sur- 
face, in the various geological formations now in progress, 
shows the immutability of Nature, and proves that the same 
enduring monuments of the present state of things will be 
transmitted to future ages as we possess of the former condi- 
tions of the earth. 

The earth was created for man. To him the whole of these 
changes point from the first appearance of life in the Palseozoic 

"The Testimony of the Rocks," by Hugh Millek, 1857. 



KELATIVE GEOLOGICAL AXT QUITY OF TEEES. 148 

rocks. His first appearance, which is thought to be so myste- 
rious, is no more difficult to understand than the appearance 
of any other organism. He was introduced at the time when 
the earth was ready for him. His existence on the earth, if 
it is to be accounted for scientifically, is a question of Natural 
History, which at present is not sufficiently advanced to ex- 
plain the introduction of any of the forms of life which have 
appeared at the several geological eras. He is undoubtedly 
the noblest which has yet tenanted the earth, the crown of the 
creation ; and as his appearance is quite a recent event, and 
the earth has been so many ages preparing for him, the prob- 
abilities are that it will continue to endure for mj^riads of ages 
yet to come. The conviction of the constancy of Nature 
deepens with every footstep which is taken in physical inves- 
tigations. The system of things is perpetually changing, yet 
the laws which govern these changes remain invariably the 
same. When viewed by the light of the eternity that is past, 
or seen through those vast periods contemplated in Geology, 
the land loses its attribute of fixity and becomes as movable 
as the ocean. These grand and more worthy views of the 
Works of the Creator are the result of the investigations of 
Science. It is not stating more than is strictly true, when we 
affirm that there is physical proof in the rocky strata of our 
globe, and the organic remains which they contain, of changes 
which must have taken thousands of millions of years to 
bring about, and this necessarily impresses on the mind the 
conviction that Nature will remain subject to the same laws 
for myriads of ages yet to come. Why should we doubt the 
constancy of Nature through coming duration, when she has 
left us such irresistible proof of her invariability through the 
eternity that is past ? 

" The study of vegetable fossils," says Professor Henfrey, 
" is far less satisfactory than that of animal remains, since, in 
the great majority of cases, the structures most distinctive of 
the subordinate groups of plants are formed of very perish- 
able matter. Genera and even species of animals may be 
recognized by bones and shells, which are of a very persistent 
nature, and are found abundantly in stratified rocks. The 



144 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

vegetable bodies wbicli can resist the long-continued action of 
water are few, and these mostly afford only characters of large 
sections of the Vegetable Kingdom, without furnishing generic, 
far less specific distinctions." 

It is therefore probable, that the fossil plants which have 
hitherto been found, only partially represent the floras of 
these remote ages ; and there is no denying that ideas obtained 
from fossil plants, must be necessarily superficial and very 
speculative. But there is a sufficient amount of evidence 
furnished by them to show satisfactorily that the first plants 
did not originate frrm seed but from spores. They were un- 
doubtedly Cryptogams. And the first land plants were cer- 
tainly swamp plants. Mosses, fitted to live in water as to-day 
Bog-mosses are accustomed, gigantic Calamites and Lepido- 
dendra. For ever since land existed there have been plants 
of tree-like proportions and bulk. It is not necessary that 
there should be a rich and varied flora for this result to be 
produced. Were there no otl»er plants in existence now but 
those belonging to the Natural Order Eosaceas, we should still 
have herbs, shrubs, and trees covering the landscape. The 
yellow cinquefoil {Potentilla Cayiadensis), and the wild straw- 
berry {Fragaria Virginiand), are lowly herbaceous plants ; the 
common blackberry {Ruhus viUosus), and the swamp rose 
{Rosa lucida\ are shrubs ; and the apple, pear, plum, and 
cherry are the fruits of trees, yet the whole of these are Eo- 
saceous plants. Therefore, notwithstanding the great same- 
ness of the plants which covered these ancient landscapes, 
they were not without their trees. 

As the land became more elevated and free from water, 
Cycadaceoe, Coniferae, and a plant allied to the Pandanus oi 
Screw Pine of the tropics, were added to these primeval for- 
ests ; then Dicotyledonous trees with true leaves, such as the 
Willow and Maple, and along with them we find the first evi- 
dence of the creation of flowers, for Nature is always consistent 
with herself, flowers being, as is now universally admitted, 
nothing but the ordinary leaves of the stem, brought together 
in consequence of a loss of vegetative power in the branch on 
which they are borne, and metamorphosed with reference 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 145 

to the reproductive function. The first bee makes its appear- 
ance in the amber or fossil resin of the Pines of the Eocene 
period ; the fragments of the wings of butterflies and other 
flower-sucking insects are also frequently met with enclosed 
in the same substance. Dicotyledonous trees of a low order 
of organization, such as the Birch, Beech, Oak, Poplar, Chest- 
nut, and Hornbeam, were probably as abundant in the forests 
of the Eocene period as they are now in our present woods. 
But there is no proof of the creation of Eosaceous plants. 
These seem to be coeval with the first appearance of man. 

Our forest trees were therefore not all created at the same 
time, but are the product of difterent geological eras ; and 
the present plant-covering is only a fragment of many ante- 
cedent plant-creations. Coniferous trees with needle-shaped 
leaves, such as the Pine, Fir, and Larch ; also Ferns, Horse- 
tails, and Club-mosses, are among the most ancient and per- 
sistent types. They have descended down to us from the 
oldest periods of the creation. This remark applies especially 
to the Natural Order Coniferae, which from the most ancient 
times even until now, in new varieties and splendors, has con- 
tinued to develope. The first flowers among herbaceous 
plants appear to have been land and water lilies, and plants be- 
longing to the Natural Order Ericaceae or the Heath tribe, such 
as the Whortleberry ( Vciccinium), and the Alpine Eose {Rho- 
dodendron). Among trees bearing true leaves and conspicuous 
flowers, the Tulip Poplar {Liriodendron tulipiferd), appears to 
be an ancient forest form, so also trees belonging to the Natu- 
ral Order Leguminosse or the Pea tribe, such as the False 
Acacia {Rohinia Pseudo- Acacia), and the Honey Locust {Gle- 
ditschia triacanthos). These trees all preceded Eosaceous plants 
in the plan of creation. Trees bearing edible fruits, as well 
as beautiful blossoms, such as the Peach, Apricot, Apple, Pear, 
Plum, and Cherry, were introduced when the earth was fitted 
for the reception of man, their remains are only found in the 
modern Geological formations now in progress, and therefore 
like him they must be regarded as among the recent creations. 
The most important fact taught by this Geological history 
of the plant world, is that the organic and inorganic creation 



146 EELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

slowly assumed its present appearance, and the evidence would 
seem to lead us irresistibly to the conclusion, that changes 
have taken place in the organization of plants, by which their 
forms have been gradually and contemporaneously adapted to 
the ever changing landscape. Hence the history of the de- 
velopment of plants is intimately associated with the history 
of those physical changes which the earth's surface has under- 
gone. Just as the present form of a grand and venerable tree, 
which appears to us to be fixed, but in reality is as fleeting 
as all the other forms through which that tree has passed from 
its first life-movement in the seed, is the final result of a long 
series of antecedent changes, so with the globe which we in- 
habit. The present appearance or, more truthfully speaking, 
phase of creation, is the necessary result of a long succession 
of antecedent changes of which the earth's crust has preserved 
the memorial. This world, what is it but a great and ancient 
theatre, where the scenery of life is ever changing ? And who 
dare say that the present arrangements of land and water, the 
forms of our modern forest trees, and of the entire animal 
creation, are now any more fixed and unalterable than at any 
previous epoch ? Nothing on earth is permanent, if there is 
any truth in the teachings of the past, and any constancy in 
Nature. 

When a traveler at the foot of a mountain in the tropics 
ascends toward its summit, he remarks the same change in 
the features of the landscape as in advancing from the equator 
to the poles. In both instances he finds that the temperature 
declines, that water, whether in the form of vapor or flviid, 
changes to eternal ice, and with this loss of heat the vegetable 
kingdom diminishes and becomes substantially altered. The 
plant-covering of the earth, from this point of observation, 
may therefore be regarded as a living geographical ther- 
mometer. The condition of vegetation at the equator and 
the poles form in this respect a striking contrast. At the 
equator the quicksilver in the tube of the thermometer reaches 
its maximum elevation ; at the poles it is depressed to a mini- 
mum. So with the vegetable kingdom. At the equator, 
its types reach their highest expansion ; the stem, leaves, and 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TEEES. 147 

flowers of plants are gigantic, and their colors are splendid 
and dazzling. At the poles, the plants sink down to the 
condition of dwarfs ; their foliage is tough and coriaceous, and 
of a dark and sombre green, gloomy as the long night of the 
polar world. In some cases even here the northern lights, 
and the reflection of the wonderful midnight sun, produce in 
some of the plants an unexpected splendor of coloring. In 
the steady light which comes from the sun as he circulates 
about the horizon for weeks, the grasses and other plants 
assumed a softened green. But far purer and higher are the 
colors of the flowers. The Trientalis and Anemone, which in 
temperate climates produce white flowers, steep themselves in 
the beams of the midnight sun of the deepest red. 

Now if the organism of the plants thus varies on the earth's 
surface, from the valley to the mountain summit, and from 
the equator to the poles, then it is plain that any physical 
revolutions which shall, in the course of ages, change the 
features of the land, must at the same time produce a change 
in its flora. We know that when forests are cut down in 
America, the plants which grew beneath their shade become . 
exhausted and die out ; so, also, swamp plants and trees dis- 
appear when the soil is drained of its superfluous water. 
Would not the same results take place if such changes were 
brought about in the course of ages through the operation 
of the ordinary forces of Nature? It is certain that land 
cannot be first elevated and then depressed below the surface 
of old Ocean, without great changes in temperature, and that 
many species would in this way naturally perish when the 
conditions became imsuited to their growth. Fossil plants 
may be truly regarded as the remains of a system of vegeta- 
ble life, developed under external conditions which are no 
longer the same in any part of the world. 

But there are indestructible organic features which connect 
the flora of the present with that of former ages. Not only 
individuals, but even species, genera, and whole orders, have 
perished ; but there prevail, in the present Creation, forms or 
types which existed in the most remote geological periods. 
This proves indisputably that there are certain persistent 



148 KELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TEEES. 

features in plants whicli have not been aflfected by the physi- 
cal revolutions which the earth has undergone. Surely there 
is nothing unreasonable in believing, that in such cases there 
is, to a certain extent, power given to vegetable matter to 
adapt itself to a gradual change of circumstances. We know 
that great changes may be effected in a brief space of time in 
the organization of plants by cultivation, or a change in their 
external circumstances, and why should not an organic 
change be brought about in plants when their external 
circumstances are altered by Nature in the course of ages ? 

" If," says Prof Draper,* " we expose some spring water 
to the sunshine, though it may have been clear and transpa- 
rent at first, it presently begins to assume a greenish tinge, 
and after a while flocks of green matter collect on the sides 
of the vessel in which it is contained ; in these flocks, when- 
ever the sun is shining, bubbles of gas may be seen, which 
if collected prove to be a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, 
the proportions of the two being variable. In the mean time 
the green matter rapidly grows ; its new parts, as they are 
developed, being all day long covered with air bells, which 
disappear as soon as the sun has set. Similar green flocks 
to these of which we speak, are also found on the surfaces 
of rocks exposed to the sea, damp walls, and other places 
where there is constant moisture. These plants belong to the 
Algae or sea-weed tribe. This green matter thus formed is 
produced from the gaseous matter, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and 
Carbonic acid, contained in the water in a state of solution. 
It is necessary, however, to admit the existence of some germ 
or objective-point on which the light can act. As we have 
already said, a bubble of gas soon makes its appearance, and 
growth with the development of the green color takes place. 
If we examine the changes now occurring in the water, we 
find that the Carbonic acid is disappearing and Oxygen and 
Nitrogen are evolved. Contemporaneously with the develop- 
ment of this green matter that of animal life begins, and thou- 
sands of aquatic animals are formed which live on it as food. 

* " A Treatise on the Forces which produce the Organization of Plants," 
by John W. Dkaper, 1844.- 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 149 

Hence it is the object of vegetable matter to form from in- 
organic matter, organic molecules, as food for animals." 

In a similar manner, probably, originated in old Ocean the 
first plants. Scarcely were tlie solid parts of the earth oreated, 
than the procreative power of its organic germs was called forth. 
Vegetable life was at first entirely aquatic, then amphibious, 
and lastly terrestrial. It was the same with the animal world : 
first fishes, then swamp reptiles and aquatic birds, and lastly 
land and air life — mammalia and man. So plants must have 
been created before herbivorous animals, and these last before 
those carnivorous races which prey upon them, and the whole 
of whose habits, instincts, and organs are most wonderfully 
and beautifully adapted for their destruction as sources of 
food. Lastly appeared man, Omnivorous. So, from the first 
plant to man-creation is one continuous chain ; and the pres- 
ent glorious and variegated vegetable carpet which covers 
the earth, with its beautiful flowers and grand forest trees, is 
only a fragment of former plant-creations which have been 
conducted on plmi and system by a Providence whom man- 
kind must learn to look up to as the Universal Father. 
A proof that, in the whole of Nature, all creatures are con- 
tinuous and inseparably connected with each other, so that 
the earth, with all its living forms, constitutes one entire 
whole, in which each plant and animal has its place, which 
it necessarily occupies and fills. 

It seems therefore plain that the earth, with its atmospheric 
covering, its continents and ever-sounding seas, with all their 
rich variety of life, is as much an organism as any tree on 
its surface. There is the same continuity and mutual depen- 
dency of all its parts, the same system of perpetual change 
on its surface, and the same record of its progress and past 
changes preserved in its interior. 

Eeader, if you cultivate a garden, as I hope you do, you 
can see the beginning and end of the lowly plants growing 
around your dwelling, and you know that they put forth a 
regular cycle of organic appendages, of leaves, flowers, and 
fruits ; and it is the same with the forest trees, whose life- 
history covers a longer period of time. Now if the cycle of 



150 RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 

changes wliich form collectively the life of a flower or tree 
are conducted on a plan and system, why not those of this 
world ? Does it not necessarily follow, when all Nature is 
thus bound together in adamantine links? I confess to you, 
reader, that this assemblage of facts connected with the devel- 
opment of life on the surface of our planet, this mutual 
dependency which pervades all Nature, and this order and 
mechanism which ever surrounds me, inspires me with the 
profoundest of all convictions, that there is plan and system 
pervading the whole of these onward movements. I have 
thought on this subject until I feel myself to be a part of 
Nature, linked on the one hand with the lichen on the rock, 
and, on the other, with the most distant star, for I know not 
where to break the chain. 

I am connected with the whole of Creation, and with a 
system of things conducted on a plan so vast that I see 
neither the beginning nor the end."^ I know that the parts 
of a tree are put together with matchless skill and beauty, 
and my impression is, that things are just as well and wisely 
ordered in this world. We meet with much that is dark and 
distressing in life ; but let us place a cheerful trust in Divine 
Providence, and rest assured that all is for the best. 

For my own part, I have been very happy in tracing out 
these beautiful harmonies in Creation. Nature is a library 
from which no man can be excluded. I have come to look 
■upon her lowly flowers and lofty trees as my books. Seated 
beneath some shadowy beech or venerable oak, I have an 
infinite variety of choice volumes in the flowers spread at my 

* "The Aufhor of Nature has not given laws to the Universe which, 
like the Institutions of man, carry in themselves the elements of their 
own destruction. He has not permitted in his works any symptoms of 
infancy or of old age, or any sign by which we might estimate either 
their future or their past duration. He may put an end, as he no doubt 
gave a beginning, to the present system at some determinate period, 
but we may safely conclude that this great catastrophe will not be 
brought about by any of the laws now in existence, and that it is not 
indicated by any thing which we perceive." — "Illustrations of the Hut- 
touian Theory of the Earth," by John Playfair. 1802. 



RELATIVE GEOLOGICAL ANTIQUITY OF TREES. 151 

feet. I take out my note-book and make my extracts. And 
I always feel happier when returning from reading my books 
in my library, for I can always find something new in them. 

" Nature never did betray 
The heart that loved her ; 'tis her privilege 
Through all the years of this our life to lead 
From joy to joy ; for she can so inform 
The mind that is within us, so impress 
With quietness and beauty, and so feed 
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues, 
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men, 
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all 
The dreary intercourse of daily life, 
Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb 
Our cheerful faith that all that we behold 
Is full of blessings." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Change which takes place in the constitution of 

TREES AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY, ORGANIC METAMOR- 
PHOSIS OF THEIR LEAVES INTO FLOWERS AND FRUIT, 
AND RELATIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL BANK OF THE FLORAL 
ORGANS. 

Hitherto our remarks have been confined entirely to the 
vegetative stages in the development of the tree; and therein 
we have endeavored to point out the interesting fact, that it 
is a plant of a highly compound nature, built up by the labors 
of simple individual plants or phytons, commonly called leaves. 
At first a certain number of these leaves associated together 
form individual plants of a higher order called shoots ; then 
these shoots, by reproduction and association of themselves, 
produce in the same manner plants still more highly com- 
pound, called shoot families ; next, these families of shoots, 
developing about a common axis, form branches, and finally 
these branches unite together in one common trunk, and thus 
construct the one individual Tree, which is therefore the last 
and most highly compound plant in the series, and the noble 
descendant of an unbroken line of ancestors, of which the 
first phyton or leaf, nourished to maturity by the nursing 
leaves, was the lowly but illustrious parent. 

Now, among the numberless shoots and branches of a tree, 
a great many retain, through all the stages of its life, their 
purely vegetative character; and their phytons or leaves, 
without ever experiencing any further metamorphosis, oscil- 
late forever between the two opposite conditions of leaves 
and bud scales. The leaves of the remainder, however, are 
carried forward to the highest stage of vegetable metamor- 
phosis, that of flowers and fruit. This takes place generally 
(152) 



ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES. 153 

after the vegetative powers of the main stem and its 
branches have been exhausted by the development of 
branchlets and twigs; for, as a general rule, anything that 
checks vegetation increases the tendency to reproduction. 

It has been proved, in Chapter VI, that the vegetative 
powers of the whole tree, in common with those of each 
leaf, shoot, and branch, have a period of acceleration and 
retardation like the rising and the falling of a wave. It 
is at that period, emphatically called the " change of 
life," — when these powers have just passed their culmina- 
ting point, when the vegetative vigor of the tree begins 
gradually to decline, — that we notice a peculiar alteration 
in its habits and structure, for the sap of the tree is no 
longer totally expended in the formation of new shoots 
and leaves, but partly in the production of flowers and 
fruit. 

In herbaceous plants, no flowers manifest themselves 
until the organization has first acquired the degree of 
strength which is necessary to produce them, by passing 
through a certain series of vegetative stages. The time 
required for this purpose depends upon the peculiar con- 
stitution of the plant : in some, a few days or weeks is all 
that is necessary to form a vegetative foundation for the 
flowers : the stage of puberty is reached, and the plant 
unfolds its flowers, forms its seed, and then dies. 

This is tlie case with some of our native annuals, such as 
the Whitlow Grass [Draba verna), which covers the ground 
with a profusion of small white flowers, through the 
months of Alarch and April. I have always felt an espe- 
cial interest in this plant, on account of the beauty and 
simplicity of its organization, and the brevity of its life. 
The radical leaves, which are disposed about the scape, or 
flower- stem, in a stellate nianner, make quite a graceful 
appearance on the ground ; the scape itself rises from 
their centre to a height varying from one to three inches, 
and supports from eight to twelve small white flowers, 
which form little, smooth, ovate-lanceolate seed-pods. 
This lowly plant lives about two or three weeks ; it then 

11 



154 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

passes away, and other flowers occupy its place. Its form 
is seen no more until tlie cold, moist conditions of the 
early part of the year again prevail. Then, from those 
germs which Nature ever carefully preserves, it again 
springs into being to perform its allotted part in the great 
organism of the Universe. 

In works on descriptive botany, it is usual to employ 
certain signs to designate the different duration of plants. 
These signs are those used by astronomers to represent 
some of the heavenly bodies. Thus, annual plants are re- 
presented by the sign of the sun ©, because the earth re- 
volves around that star in a year ; biennial plants by the 
sign of Mars S , because that planet performs its revolution 
about the sun in two years ; perennial plants by the sign 
of Jupiter U, because Jupiter is nearly twelve years in 
going round the sun ; and ligneous plants by the sign of 
Saturn ^ , whose revolution about the sun is accomplished 
in about twenty-nine and a half of our years. 

'Now, herbaceous plants, whether annuals, biennials, or 
perennials, like the trees which overshadow them, during 
the vegetative period of their life, ramify and branch ; and 
there is the same continual loss of vegetative power by their 
branches from generation to generation until the ramify- 
ing power is exhausted ; so also their branches, like those 
of trees, are only repetitions of the whole plant on a smaller 
scale. Their branches, however, differ from those of trees 
in this particular, that they are without the folia tegmentta, 
or covering-leaves, and have therefore, no means of security 
organized to protect them during the winter months. To 
herbaceous plants, a humbler task has been allotted in the 
household of ISTature. It is not her intention to preserve 
them, or consolidate their fabrics, and therefore the frosts 
of winter are permitted to despoil them of their beauty, 
and to sweep them into one common grave. Their branches 
develope from what Henfey has very properly called "open 
buds," — one, two, and sometimes even three generations 
being formed during the same season. This necessarily 
rapidly exhausts tlie vegetative powers of the organism. 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 155 

calls forth more speedily the reproductive energies, and 
brings the life of the plant to an early close. If the plant 
is an annual, the whole organism perishes the first year; 
but if it be a perennial, the part of the organism developed 
into the atmosphere alone dies : for, as we have seen, it is 
without the means of protecting itself against the incle- 
mency of the weather ; but the part of the organism still 
below the soil is protected, and lives securely sheltered by 
its friendly covering till warm weather comes again, and 
then from that still living underground rhizome, or sub- 
terranean stem, the same plant springs forth in the renewed 
beauty and freshness of youth, to go through the same 
brief but interesting life-changes. 

It is otherwise with ligneous plants, such as shrubs and 
forest trees ; in them we see the working of the same 
natural laws, but in a somewhat modified manner, and on 
a far grander scale. It is the intention of Kature, in the 
case of trees, that her work should be preserved, and 
therefore she seeks to consolidate their fabric, by the pre- 
servation, through the winter months, of the amount of 
work done by the leaves of each season. In trees, under 
ordinary circumstances, only one generation of shoots is 
produced in a year, and these shoots do not branch any 
further than the formation of buds in the axilla of their 
leaves. These buds, or vegetative points, are always more 
or less perfectly formed by the leaves before the tree 
becomes defoliated. Like the original seed out of which 
the whole tree has been gradually developed, they indi- 
vidually contain, in an embryonic condition, a shoot and 
leaves precisely like the first year's growth from the seed. 

An additional set of organs, usually called bud-scales, 
is therefore furnished to trees, in order to protect their 
young rudimentary branches. These I have ventured to 
call in this work, folia tegmentia, covering-leave^. These 
leaves are assisted in their protective function in some 
instances, by a covering of hard, dry varnish ; and, in not 
a few cases, they have, internally, a warm, woolly lining. 
Every pore is thus sealed up, and the atmosphere of winter 



156 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

carefully excluded. Under such circumstances, the nume- 
rous fully-formed embryo-growths of the next year on the 
branches, are as secure under the covering-leaves of the 
bud, as was the solitary embryonic shoot and leaves of the 
first year under the wrappers of the seed. " 

To the tree, as well as to the annual, winter is the season 
of rest; and exhausted vitality, in both instances, has time 
given for recuperation. In annuals, the exhausted vitality 
of the roots, stem, leaves, flowers, and seed-vessel, or peri- 
carp, retires into the seed; and, as the whole plant perishes, 
these seeds become detached from it, and the embryos 
which they inclose develope into new and separate plants 
on the soil. But in trees the exhausted vitality, not only 
of the leaves but of the new layer of bark and wood-cells, 
which they have constructed (see page 64), retires into the 
buds, from which the new plants develope on the return of 
Spring. Now, although there are cases amongst herbaceous 
plants, as for example, Lilium bulbiferum, in which axillary 
buds are formed by the leaves which become detached from 
the stem and grow into separate and independent plants 
on the soil, no such instance occurs in trees. The buds of 
trees, formed by the leaves of each season, do not separate 
from the tree ; and hence the new plants which they con- 
tain, remain organically united with each other about a 
common axis. This is the reason why the vegetative period 
in trees is so greatly prolonged, and why they attain such a 
superior altitude and spread. They rest each winter, and 
through perennial associations of new growths, Nature 
carries on her work much further than in herbaceous 
plants. Trees are, therefore, composite plants, developed 
on the grandest scale. They cover a far greater extent of 
ground than herbaceous plants. Hence their giant forms, 
when gathered together into communities, are most strik- 
ingly seen in the landscape pictures of the earth. A firmer, 
more enduring foundation is thus laid, in the organism of 
trees, for the exercise of the reproductive function ; and 
when once the state of puberty is reached, they are neces- 
sarily covered with the utmost profusion of flowers, and 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 



157 



continue to flower and fruit for a number of years, without 
showing any signs of decay, or any indications whatever of 
diminished vitality. 

Each species of tree, however, has its own period of time 
during which it vegetates, so as to gain the requisite 
strength for reproduction, although the time varies with 
the favorable or unfavorable circumstances in which the 
tree may be placed, such as suitable soil, and exposure to 
the sun's influence. The following examples will illustrate 
the difterence in the maximum growth and age, at the 
time of flowering, of some of our principal trees: — 



Norway Spruce [Abies exceJsa),. 
Silver Fir [Abies pectinacea), . 
Elm ( TJlnnis Americana)^ . 
Hornbeam { Carpinus Americana), 
Linden ( Tilia Americana), 
Maple [Acer rttbrum), 
Birch [Betvla alba), . 
Chestnut [Castanea vesca). 
Beech [Fagus ferruginea), 
Larch [Larix Americana), 
Ash [Fraxinus pubescens), 
Hazel [Cory Ins Americana), 
Oak ( Quercus alba), . 
Hickory ( Carya alba). 







Age at the 


Height in feet. 


time of flowering. 


. 80 to 120 


50 years. 




80 to 100 


30 " 




60 to 80 ■ 


40 " 




10 to 20 


20 '•' 




60 to 80 


25 to 30 years 




15 to 20 


25 to 30 " 




30 to 40 


10 to 12 " 




60 to 80 


25 to 30 " 




60 to 70 


40 to 50 " 




40 to 60 


15 " 




50 to 00 


25 " 




4 to 8 


10 " 




40 to 60 


50 to 60 " 




40 to 50 


25 to 30 " 



The above numbers give the mean ages and height of 
these trees at the time of flowering under the most favor- 
able conditions, especially where the tree has plenty of 
room for development, and the soil is suitable. 

In trees, as well as in herbaceous plants, vegetation is 
checked by reproduction. Those branches which are 
destined to exercise this function, take, at this time, a 
short, stunted appearance, growing only a few inches or 
lines in length in the same time that they formerly grew as 
many feet ; the bud-traces on the outside of the branches 
[gemma vestigia), the intervals between, which mark the 
annual growths, thus become crowded together. Ulti- 



158 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

mately, the branches cease to elongate altogether, and the 
leaf-buds become metamorphosed into flower-buds. "When 
these flower-buds unfold themselves, they disclose a number 
of leaves totally different in appearance from the ordinary 
stem-leaves, — certain changes having been made in their 
structure by which they are adapted for reproduction. 

As in the flower, the vegetative powers of the leaves are 
reduced to zero, the axis of the floral leaves necessarily 
retains its rudimentary condition, and no intervals of stem 
form between them ; they therefore remain crowded 
together into a sort of rosette, analogous to that which is 
formed by the ordinary stem-leaves, which remain in 
clusters without metamorphosis when the branch or axis 
to which they are attached continues undeveloped. 

If we examine the leaves which have been thus converted 
into floral organs, we shall soon be satisfied that, despite 
of the various forms under which they present themselves, 
they are identical with the ordinary stem-leaves, and that 
the alteration in their appearance is the necessary conse- 
quence of the gradual expiration of the vegetative powers 
of the branch on which they are borne. 

In many plants, — those with axillary inflorescences, 
as, for example, the moth mullein ( Verbascum blattaria), 
where the primary axis remains permanently vegetative, 
and where the buds formed in the axilla of the upper 
leaves are metamorphosed into flower-buds, the passage of 
the ordinary green leaves of the stem into bracts or floral 
leaves, is so gradual, that it is impossible to distinguish be- 
tween the bract and the leaf; and, in like manner, the 
bracts slide, as it were, almost imperceptibly into the 
sepals or leaves of the calyx. In such cases, there is no 
difficulty in verifying the fact, that leaf, bract, and sepal, are 
one and the same organ ; for we plainly see how the leaves 
diminish in size as we pass from the vegetative to the re- 
productive region, and the successive steps made in the 
metamorphoses of the ordinary green leaves of the stem 
into the sepals or leaves of the calyx or flower-cup. 

But in cases where the inflorescence is terminal, that is 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 159 

to say, where tlie development of the main stem and 
branches of the plant are suddenly arrested by the meta- 
morphosis of the leaf-buds at their summit into flower- 
buds, no such gradual metamorphosis in the leaves is to 
be seen ; and this makes the task of identifying the flower- 
leaves with the ordinary green leaves of the stem far more 
difficult. Yet even here we are not without indications of 
that common family relationship which subsists amongst 
all the leaf-organs. There is the same rudimentary condi- 
tion of the floral axis which we observe amongst the com- 
mon green leaf-clusters on the branchlets when their 
vegetative powers are enfeebled ; the same spiral arrange- 
ment ; for, if we consider the leaves of the flower carefully, 
we shall find that they alternate with each other, the sepals 
or leaves of the calyx occupying an intermediate position 
between the petals. We observe, also, that these floral 
leaves deviate more widely from the ordinary type of stem- 
leaf, in proportion as they are situated toward the superior 
portion of the axis ; this change of structure increasing as 
the vegetative forces become enfeebled. Thus, whilst the 
sepals or leaves of the calyx retain almost all the characters 
of leaves, these characters are less apparent in the petals 
and stamens, until finally, in the carpels, or pistils, which 



The different parts of a flower : a, the calyx ; b, the corolla ; c, the 
stamens ; d, the pistils. • 

occupy the summit of the axis, the departure from the 
ordinary leaf-type is the widest. 

Transitional forms, between sepals and petals, and be- 



160 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

tween petals and stamens, may be obtained in many 
flowers, especially in the common spatterdock of the 
pools [jSfuphar advena), and the white water lily {Nymphcea 
alba). These terms may furnish the botanist with conve- 
nient artificial distinctions, which are very available in 
botanical diagnosis ; but absolute boundaries between 
sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils, do not exist in iN'ature ; 
there is the utmost latitude and freedom of form, and we 
seek in vain to confine her in the fetters of an artificial 
nomenclature. 

Examine the flowers of the yellow lily or spatterdock, 
and you will find that the sepals or leaves of the calyx, 
although green externally, are yellow internally, and thus 
approximate in appearance to the petals ; that the petals, 
which are arranged in a closely-approximated spiral, 
gradually become smaller as they are more centrally situ- 
ated ; for the anthers become visible on their upper side, 
and the lower portion of the petal contracts into a filament. 
The curious pollen-bearing leaves, called stamens, are 
thus identified as metamorphosed petals ; for such tran- 
sitional forms remove every shadow of doubt from the 
mind. 

In the pistil or central organ of the flower, there appears 
to be the greatest departure from the primitive leaf-type ; 
yet it is not diflicult to trace it even in this instance. The 
analogy of the pistil to the leaves is easily demonstrated 
in the flower of the Iris, the pistils of which are petaloid, 
or petal-like. In general, the pistil is nothing but a leaf 
which remains folded on its midrib, the two sides of the 
lamina continuing together instead of separating, as in 
ordinary cases. Whilst in this condition, the margins of 
the lamina anastomose, or grow together, and thus form a 
placenta or point of attachment for the ovules in its inte- 
rior. The folded condition of the leaf in the young state 
may be observed in the leaves of the Cherry tree and com- 
mon Garden Rose. Examples, too, are not uncommon of 
the development of stunted green leaves in the centre of 
the flower, in the place of the pistils, as in the Double 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 161 

Cherry and Garden Rose; although, as a general rule, 
when once the development of the axis has reached its 
limit in flowers, there is no recurrence again of the vege- 
tative period. 

And here it is necessary to appreciate fully the relative 
physiological rank or importance of the floral organs. To 
understand this, we must study not only the subordina- 
tion of function which subsists amongst the floral organs, 
but also their presence or absence in the greater number 
of flowers ; for it may be very safely concluded that those 
floral organs which are present the most frequently in 
flowers, and the last to disappear, are in reality the most 
necessary to the exercise of the reproductive function. 

The popular idea of a flower is usually associated with 
something showy and colored, and hence the flowers of 
the Judas Tree {Cercts Canadensis), the Dogwood {Cornus 
Florida), and the Tulip Tree [Liriodendron tulipifera), are 
easily recognized ; but not the flowers of the Larch, Cedar, 
or Pine. The flowers of these trees take a lower form of 
development, and require the searching eye of the Natu- 
ralist to detect them. Such humble forms of floral struc- 
ture are, in reality, the most attractive and interesting to 
the philosophical Botanist. lie can admire the rich colors 
of a Camelia or Geranium, but there is something quite 
as pleasing when he recognizes simplicity of structure, 
where calyx and corolla have disappeared, and nothing 
remains but the stamens and pistils, the parts absolutely 
necessary to reproduction. These are the most highly 
metamorphosed of the leaf-organs of the plant, to which 
all the others are simply accessory. Propagation cannot 
be eflected without them, hence they are the very last to 
disappear from the organism, in descending from the higher 
to the lower orders of the Phanerogamia or flowering- 
plants ; and wherever they are present, there is a true 
flower. Stamens and pistils may be distinctly seen, at 
certain seasons of the year, in grasses, sedges, and rushes, 
whiph are therefore very properly regarded by Botanists 
as flowering plants, notwithstanding their sombre appear- 

12 



162 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

ance, the term being quite as applicable to tliem as to a 
rose or lily. Brilliant and highly-colored floral envelopes 
must be regarded as characteristic of the more highly 
organized flowers. These gradually lose their bright at- 
tractions, as we descend in Nature, until they become 
green and inconsj^icuous, as in ISTettles, and in the Pigweed 
[Amaranthus Itybridus) ; and, finally, their place is sup- 
plied by rudimentary leaves or bracts, as in Grasses and 
Birch trees ; or they are suppressed altogether, as in the 
Lizard's Tail [Saururus cernuous) and "Willow. 

A few brief remarks may now be made in reference 
more immediately to the reproductive functions exercised 
by the stamens and pistils. Let us take, as an example, the 
Apple tree. This tree is beautiful in spring, when covered 
with blossoms, and still more attractive in autumn, when 
loaded with fruit; and it is desirable, in this place, to say 
something about the way in which both the flowers and 
fruit are formed. , 

When the period of puberty arrives, the branches of this 
tree cease to elongate, and their terminal buds assume a 
swollen appearance, and give birth to a cluster of little 
twigs, or stalks, each supporting a flower-bud. These 
flower-buds unfold themselves about the same time as the 
regular leaf-buds ; but the leaves which they contain do 
not separate like those developed by the leaf-buds ; on the 
contrary, they remain crowded together in clusters at the 
summit of each flower-stalk, or peduncle. 

If we examine the leaves of the flower which have been 
thus crowded together, we shall be struck with admiration 
at the simplicity and beauty of the means which ISTature 
has adopted to effect her object. The outer leaves of this 
floral cluster, although greatly diminished in size, still re- 
tain their green hue, and form a sort of cup-like envelope, 
called, for that reason, by Botanists, the calyx. Situated 
immediately next are the leaves of the corolla, or garland, 
so called on account of their ornamental appearance. 
These are the most showy leaves in each set ; they are 
slightly tinged with pink, and of a dazzling whiteness. 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 163 

Kow Apple trees are hermaplirodite, that is to say, tliey 
are self-impregnating, the male and female organs being- 
situated in the same flowers. These organs are called, by 
Botanists, stamens and pistils, and we must look for them 
immediately within the apple-blossom, or corolla. The 
stamens, or male sexual organs, are very numerous, and 
surround the pistils or female sexual organs. All these 
organs must be regarded as altered stem-leaves, beautifully 
organized with reference to the new and important func- 
tions which they have to perform. In the stamen, the stalk 
of the leaf is converted into a filament, and the dilated por- 
tion, or blade, contracted into a little club-like body, called 
an anther. This will be better understood by referring to 

Finr. 2. 



a 




Fig. 2, which represents one of the stamens of the Apple 
tree. The filament is marked «, and the anther 5, which 
is seen discharging its fecundating matter, or pollen. It is 
because the anther prepares and discharges the pollen, that 
we call it the male sexual organ of a flower. The female 
sexual organ, or pistils, occupy the central portion of the 
flower. They are so called because they receive the im- 
pregnating matter, or pollen, a process which, in plants, is 
indispensable to reproduction. The reader will form a 
very good idea of a pistil, by looking for a few moments 
at Fig. 3, which shows one in section, or cut open. Q is 
the stigma, or summit, of the pistil, to which the pollen 
adheres when fertilization takes place ; h is the style of the 
pistil; a the ovary, containing the young ovules, which arc 



164 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES 

pointed out by the letter d. The pistils of the apple-blos- 
som are somewhat different from the one figured here. 

Ficr. 3. 



There are usually five pistils, with free styles and stigmas ; 
the ovaries are, however, united; each contains two ovules, 
surrounded by cartilaginous walls, forming what is called 
the core of the apple, and the whole is inclosed in the fleshy 
tabe of the calyx, which, by subsequent enlargement, be- 
comes the fruit. 

It is not the beauty and fragrance of apple-blossoms, so 
much as the plan on which they are constructed, which is 
the chief point of attraction about them. This terminal 
rosette of sweet-scented, ornamental leaves, is, in reality, 
nothing but the ordinary green leaves of the stem, whose 
organization has been altered, and is most admirably 
adapted to the discharge of a new and important function, 
that of reproduction. For the mind is necessarily filled 
with admiration at that matchless skill which thus, by a 
modification in the same typical organ, the leaf, adapts it 
to the exercise of the reproductive functions. " The con- 
traction of a branch and its leaves forms a flower; the dis- 
integration of the internal tissue of a petal forms pollen ; 
the folding inwards of a leaf constitutes a pistil; and, 
finally, the gorging of the pistil with a fluid, with which 
it cannot part, produces a fruit."* 

The function exercised by the two outer sets of floral 

■■•■ Lindley's "Introduction to Botany."' 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 



165 



leaves is purely a protective one, and they are placed in 
close proximity to the stamens, in order that they may fold 
over them, and thus shelter them from the falling rain and 
the dews of night. All must have noticed this folding-up 
of the calyx and corolla in wet weather, or at sunset. The 
leaves of the calyx, and especially the petals of the corolla, 
also aid in the preparation of the sap for the stamens, and 



Fio-. 4. 




Longitudinal section of the pistil of Heliantlmm denticulaium, showing 
the ovules in the interior of the ovary, attached to the placenta by means 
of the funiculus, or vegetable umbilicus ; b, style ; c, stigma ; a, pollen 
granules, the tubes of which have descended the style, and entered the 
raicropyle of the ovules. — Schleidex. 

help to form that saccharine matter which the bee collects 
so industriously, and which nourishes the stamens and 
pistils. 



166 ORGANIC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES * 

The function of the stamens and pistils is purely repro- 
ductive. At first the anthers are unruptured, moist, and 
closed ; but, as they approach maturity, they become dry, 
open their cells, and discharge their pollen on the stigmatic 
surface of the pistil, which, about this time, becomes be- 
dewed with a clammy fluid, which serves to retain the pol- 
len. The grains of pollen absorb the moisture of the stigma 
and emit delicate tubes, which penetrate the loose cellular 
tissue of the style, and act as a conduit of the fecundating 
matter of the pollen grains to the ovules, which these tubes 
finally enter by means of their micropyle (Greek /jr/.poc^ 
little, and -o?.rj^ gate). The ovules, having received the im- 
pregnating matter, the embryos, or miniature plants, begin 
to form in them, and are gradually transformed into seed. 

The sap is now drawn to the forming fruit, away from 
the petals and stamens, which fade and fall ofi*, having 
fulfilled their important but ephemeral functions. The 
stigmas and styles of the pistils being now useless to the 
plant, disappear equally with the other parts. The ovaries 
alone remain to aid in the ripening of the seed contained 
within their cavities. 

The sap elaborated in the ordinary green leaves of the 
stem, passes through the peduncle, or what was formerly 
the flower-stalk, into the fleshy tube of the calyx, by which 
it is retained, and which now gradually enlarges and con- 
tinues to increase in size as long as the sap continues to 
enter it. The gorged and swollen cellular tissue or sub- 
stance of the apple is formed from this sap about the 
cartilaginous walls of the ovaries. The surface of the 
apple, whilst green, acts like an ordinary green stem-leaf 
on the atmosphere, absorbing carbonic acid gas, and giving 
out oxygen. As it slowly loses its green color, and assumes 
a ripe and ruddy appearance, it ceases to do this, absorbing 
the oxygen instead of giving it out. At maturity the stalk 
ceases to afibrd any further passage for the fluids, and be- 
comes finally unequal to the task of supporting the fruit, 
so that it falls to the ground. Here it lies, unless eaten by 
cattle, till it decays. On the approach of Spring, the seeds 



AT THE PERIOD OF PUBERTY. 167 

contained within the ovaries, stimulated into life by tlie 
heat, put forth roots in the mass of nourishing, decaying 
matter which surrounds them, and which was provided 
by Nature for this very purpose, and develope into new 
plants ; which, should circumstances favor their growth, 
pass again through the same life-changes as the parent 
tree on which they originated. 

Such are the progressive phenomena in the growth not 
only of the Apple tree, but of all the trees which are 
natives of northern climates, modified, of course, by pecu- 
liarities of structure and constitution ; but all grow in a 
similar manner, — their forms gradually unfolding from the 
seed, according to the same laws. 

The tree exhibits a picture of the whole of Nature, and 
of the way in which Nature works. In its building up, it 
shows that the grand is always preceded by the apparently 
insignificant, and complexity of structure by extreme 
organic simplicity. Cell and fibre, leaf-scale and leaf, 
shoot, branchlet, and branch, all preceded each other, and 
their united labors produced the blossom and fruit, the 
highest, the culminating point of organic perfection and 
metamorphosis. So that no part of the tree is insignifi- 
cant, and all its organs are mutually dependent on each 
other ; for is there not a centralization of their forces, a 
unity of their organic action, in the labors necessary to 
form the blossom and the fruit ? 

In the early part of this chapter, I spoke somewhat 
enthusiastically of a little, a]3parently insignificant. Spring 
flower, popularly called Whitlow Grass [Draha verna), whose 
blossoms cover the ground, in the utmost profusion, in the 
months of March and April. Now^, vulgarly speaking, 
this plant is nothing but a "common weed." Will you 
believe, reader, that I have watched this plant, through all 
the phases of its brief life-history, for several years, with 
an interest ever on the increase ! Let me tell you a few of 
the thoughts which it has suggested. I have marked the 
care with which Nature preserves its germs, and the con- 
stancy with v^^hich it appears on the earth's surface at the 



168 ORGAI^rC METAMORPHOSIS OF LEAVES. 

appointed time. Surely this flower, so humble, unattrac- 
tive, and short-lived, like the leaf-scales of a tree, has its 
place assigned in the organism of the universe, which 
would probably be no unimportant one, if the wondrous 
mechanism of life were only better understood. And it is 
the same with the every individual of all that troop of 
bright and smiling ones with which the earth is annually 
garlanded, especially when, like my welcome little friend, 
Draha verna, they decorate the earth in countless numbers. 
Regarded as a part of the organism of living iTature, such 
plants lose their insignificance; and there is no genus, 
however brief its life-span and unattractive its appearance, 
which is beneath the consideration of Naturalists. 

Nor is the above lesson without its moral. What shall 
be said of those who despise the honest and industrious 
man, because he occupies an inferior position in society ? 
Such conduct is certainly not sanctioned by Nature, or her 
teachings, when we see what is lowly and apparently insig- 
nificant at the foundation of her grandest operations. 



CHAPTER X 

CONTAINS A DESCRIPTION OF TREES REMARKABLE FOR THEIK 
GIGANTIC GROWTH AND GREAT AGE, FOUND IN DIFFERENT 
PARTS OF THE WORLD. 

Every country possesses these vegetable giants, and this, 
too, from the most different groups of trees. India has its 
Banyan ; Africa, its Baobab ; Germany, its Linden ; Eng- 
land, its ancient Oaks and Yews; and California, its mag- 
nificent mammoth trees, which belong to the natural order 
Coniferse, and which are upwards of three hundred feet in 
height. 

A Chestnut tree is now growing on the side of Mount 
Etna, in Sicily, the stem of which is hollow, and one hun- 
dred and eighty feet in circumference. It consists, in 
reality, of several stems, which have grown together at 
their base, and whose crowns are concealed within one 
another. It is called by the natives, " Castagna di cento 
cavalla ;" because a hundred horsemen can find shelter in 
its interior. The age of this tree is unknown, but its im- 
mense size proves its great antiquity. It is indeed a noble 
tree, which has outlived and sheltered successive genera- 
tions. 

By E"eustadt, in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, in Ger- 
many, stands a Linden tree, which must have been very 
old in 1229 ; for an old tradition says that the city, wdiich 
formerly was called Ilelmbundt, was destroyed in 1226, 
and was again rebuilt in 1229, '■^ near the Great Linden.'' 
This Linden was so remarkable and well known, that for 
centuries the Germans were accustomed to speak of Keu- 



170 DESCRIPTION OF 

stadt as the city "near the Great Linden." In a poem 
written in 1408, it is described as growing near the gate of 
the city, its branches being supported by sixty-seven pil- 
lars. In the year 1664, there were eighty-two, and in 
1832, one hundred and six of them. They were built of 
stone, and erected just as they were required, in accordance 
with the increase in the horizontal growth of the branches. 
The oldest inscriptions on these pillars bear the respective 
dates of 1558, 1562, and 1583, with the name and escut- 
cheons of those who erected them. In the year 1832, the 
stem of this tree was, at a height of six feet above the 
ground, thirty-seven feet six inches in circumference. It 
must, therefore, have been from seven hundred and fifty to 
eight hundred years old, at the lowest estimate. Since 
1832, it has suffered so much by tempests, that it is now 
almost, comparatively speaking, a complete ruin. 

Walnut trees, also, occasionally reach a great age. 
There is one in the Baidar Valley, near Balakiava, in the 
Crimea, which is at least a thousand years old. It yields 
annually from eighty thousand to one hundred thousand 
nuts, and belongs to five Tartar families, who share its 
produce peacefully amongst themselves. 

Cedars are yet found on Mount Lebanon, in Syria, sup- 
posed to be the remains of the forest which furnished 
Solomon with timber for the Jewish Temple, three thou- 
sand years ago. They were examined by Belonius in 1550, 
who found them twenty-eight in number. In 1696, Maun- 
drell counted only sixteen ; and in 1818, according to Dr. 
Richardson, there were still seven of them left. There can 
be no doubt as to the great age of these trees. Maundrell 
mentions the size of one of them, which was thirty feet 
six inches in circumference, and one hundred and seven- 
teen feet in the spread of its boughs. 

There are Oaks now growing in England, which were 
planted before the time of the Norman conquest, in 1066, 
and which are therefore more than eight hundred years old. 

The Yew trees [Taxus haccata) are still older. One of 
these trees, located at Fountain's Abbey, near Ripon, in 



REMARKABLE FOREST TREES. 171 

Yorkshire, was examined by Pennant, in 1770, and was 
then more than twelve hundred years old ; and another, in 
the churchyard of Braburn, in Kent, according to the 
measurement of Evelyn, in 1660, had then attained an 
age of two thousand eight hundred and eighty years, and 
consequently is now more than three thousand years old. 

The so-called American Cypress [Taxodium distichum), 
found in Florida, in southern Louisiana, and in Mexico, 
has not unfrequently, at a height of one hundred and 
twenty feet above the ground, a circumference of forty 
feet, and must, therefore, be very old. A fine specimen of 
this tree now grows in the garden of Chapultepec, Mexico, 
which was of an immense size at the time of the conquest 
of Mexico by the Spaniards, in 1520, and was then knoWn 
as Montezuma's Cypress ; and in the province of Oaxaca, 
in the same country, still stands the same Cypress which 
sheltered the troops of Ferdinando Cortez. These trees 
are at least four thousand years old ; in fact, De Candolle 
considers them to be much older. 

But by far the most remarkable trees in the world are 
found in California. The Sequoia gigaritea, popularly 
known in the district where it grows as the " Mammoth 
"Washington Tree," was first discovered by the English 
traveller and ll^aturalist, Lob, on the Sierra ISTevada, at an 
elevation of five thousand feet, and near the source of the 
rivers Stanislaus and San Antonio. These trees belong to 
the ISTatural Order Coniferce, or the Pine family, and grow 
two hundred and fifty and even four hundred feet in 
height. The bark, which is of a cinnamon color, is from 
twelve to eighteen inches thick ; the wood reddish, but 
soft and light ; and the stem is from ten to twenty feet in 
diameter. The branches grow almost horizontally from 
the stem; their foliage resembles that of the Cypress; yet, 
notwithstanding the monstrous size of these trees, their 
cones are only two inches and a half in length, resembling 
those of the Weymouth Pine {Pinus strobus) ; whilst the 
Auracauria, or South American Pine, although far infe- 



1T2 DESCRIPTION OF 

nor in size to the Sequoia, produces coues of tlie form and 
magnitude of a child's head. 

The Sequoias stand together in groups on a black, fruitful 
soil, which is watered by a brook. The miners have given 
some of them their especial consideration. One has been 
called " The Miner's Cabin." It is a hollow tree, about 
three hundred feet in height, — the excavation being seven- 
teen feet in breadth, and nearly fifty feet in circumference. 
" The Three Sisters" have all sprung from the same root. 
" The Old Bachelor," worried by storms, leads a solitary 
life. " The Family" consists of a group of trees, two large 
ones, — "The Parents," — and twenty-four small ones, — 
"The Children." "The Riding School" is an immense 
tree, which has been overturned by a storm, in the hollow 
stem of which a man can ride on horseback for a distance 
of seventy-five feet. 

In standing before these giant forms of the forest, we 
naturally try to calculate the time which was necessary to 
bring together such vast masses of vegetable matter, and 
then think of our own short lives and diminutiveness. 
Judging from their rings, these trees are at least from two 
to three thousand years old. The following description of 
one of them, recently felled for timber, is taken from a 
work published by the United States Government. It will 
be read with interest, as it furnishes reliable information : — 

" As considerable discussion has already been had with 
regard to the age of this tree," says Dr. Bigelow, " I may 
state that when I visited it in May last, at a section of it, 
eighteen feet from the stump, it was fourteen and a half 
feet in diameter. As the diminution of the annual rings 
of growth, from the heart or centre to the circumference, 
or sap-wood, appeared pretty regular, I placed my hand 
midway, roughly measuring six inches, and carefully 
counted the rings on that space, which numbered one 
hundred and thirty, making the tree 1885 years old. 

" A verbal or written description of this tree, however 
accurate, cannot give one an adequate idea of its dimen- 
sions. It required thirty-one of my paces, of three feet 



REMARKABLE FOREST TREES. 173 

each, to measure thus rudely its circumfereuce at the 
stump. The only way it could be felled, was by boring 
repeatedly with pump augers. It required five men, 
twenty-two days, to perform the operation. After they 
had succeeded in severing it at the stump, the shoulders 
were so broad, and the tree so perfectly equipoised, that it 
took the same five men two days in driving wedges with 
a battering-ram, on one side of the cut, to throw it out of 
its equilibrium sufficiently to make it fall. The mere fell- 
ing of the tree, at California prices for wages, cost the sum 
of $550. 

" A short distance from this tree was another of larger 
dimensions, which, apparently, had been overthrown by 
accident, some forty or fifty years ago. It was hollow for 
some distance ; and, when I was there, quite a rivulet was 
running through its cavity. The trunk was three hundred 
feet in length ; the top broken oft', and by some agency 
(probably fire), was destroyed. At the distance of three 
hundred feet from the butt, the trunk was forty feet in 
circumference, or more than twelve feet in diameter. 
Fragments of the same kind of tree, which had apparently 
been exposed to the vicissitudes of climate and the weather 
the same length of time, and supposed to be from the indi- 
vidual tree that lies prostrate, are to be found projected 
in a line with the main body, one hundred and fifty feet 
from the top ; proving to a degree of moral certainty, that 
the tree, when standing alive, must have attained the 
height of four hundred and fifty or five hundred feet ! At 
the butt it is one hundred and ten feet in circumference, 
or about thirty-six feet in diameter. 

" These mammoth trees, by their stately and majestic 
bearing, striking the beholder with awe and wonder, and 
cause him almost involuntarily to bow before them as the 
kings of the forest. Their whole number does not exceed 
five hundred, and all are comprised within an area of about 
fifty acres. Only eighty or ninety of them are of gigantic 
size. Their extremely limited locality and number, forcibly 
impress the traveller with the belief that the species will 



174 DESCRIPTION OF 

soon be extinct, as is further evinced by their slow repro- 
duction. Indeed, these giants of the forest are so marked 
in their rusty habits from their present associates, that we 
can hardly view them in their present rehations, except as 
links connecting us with ages so long past, that they seem 
but reminiscences of an eternal bygone. They seem to 
require but the process of petrifaction to establish a com- 
plete paleontological era."* 

But the Baobab {Adansonia digitata) surpasses even the 
trees of California in grandeur and antiquity. It is the 
oldest vegetable monument on earth. Its stem is only 
from ten to twelve feet in height, but of immense propor- 
tions, for it is thirty-four feet in diameter. This colossal 
circumference is an absolute necessity; because, from its 
summit it unfolds so vast a leaf-crown, that it can only be 
supported on such a massive foundation. The main branch 
rises perpendicularly to a height of sixty feet, and from it 
branches extend themselves to a distance of from fifty to 
sixty feet horizontally on all sides ; so that they form a 
noble leaf-crown, whose diameter is more than one hundred 
and sixty feet, giving to a single tree the appearance of a 
whole forest. The leaves of the Baobab are palmate, and 
forcibly remind us of the Horse-Chestnut, — being divided 
to the leaf-stalk. It is covered with great Malvaceous-like 
flowers, which droop on their peduncles. The fruit is 
about the size of a small gourd. 

In its native country, this tree bears a name which signi- 
fies " a thousand years ;" and, contrary to what is generally 
the case, this name expresses what is, in reality, far short 
of the truth. Adanson noticed one in the Cape de Verd 
Islands, ofi" the coast of Africa, which had been observed 
by two English travellers three centuries earlier ; he found 
within its trunk the inscription which they had graven 
there, covered over with three hundred woody layers, and 



* See "Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to ascertain the most prac- 
ticable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to 
the Pacific Ocean," Vol. lY. 



REMARKABLE FOREST TREES. 



175 



thus was enabled to estimate the rate of the increase of the 
stem in three centuries. "With this measure he succeeded 
in estimating the number of year's growtli of the entire 
stem, and in ascertaining the age of the tree, which he 
found to be 5150 years. v 

But, altliough some trees live for thousands of years, yet 
the life of all must sooner or later terminate ; for, to each 
tree, equally with the lowly plants which grow beneath its 
shade, a limited period of life has been allotted. This 
period may vary with the favorable or unfavorable circum- 
stances in which the tree is placed, and depends also on 
the greater or less amount of life-force with which the 
embryo was endowed in the beginning ; but, nevertheless, 
the life of all trees has its appointed period, like their form, 
altitude, and other specific peculiarities. 

We close this chapter with the following catalogue of 
trees, which is designed to show how the age of the same 
tree may vary : — The 



Palm lives from . . . . 
Larch [Larix Europcea), lives from 

Chestnut ( Ca.stencrt resca), " 

Walnut [Juglans regia), " 

Olive [Olea Europcea), " 

Orange {Citrus orantium), " 

Yc^if [Taxus haccata), " 

Oak [Quercus Europcm), " 



200 to 300 years. 

2G3to 576 " 

360 to G26 " 

900 to 1000 " 

700, 1000 to 2000 " 

400, 509 to 646 " 

1214, 1466, 2588 to 2880 " 

600, 800, 860, 1000 to 1400 " 



CHAPTER XL 



THE WOODS TAKE THE FIRST RANK IN THE COMMUNITIES OF 
THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM— RECIPROCITY OF ACTION AMONGST 
PLANTS— A COOL ATMOSPHERE PRODUCED BY WOODS— THEIR 
REMOVAL IS FOLLOWED BY A WARMER, DRIER CLIMATE, AND 
IS BENEFICIAL IN SOME CASES— WOODS ON MOUNTAINS MUST 
NOT BE CUT DOWN— PERNICIOUS RESULTS OF THEIR RE- 
MOVAL IN ITALY— WOODS USEFUL ALONG THE SEA-SHORE 
WHERE THE COAST IS LOW AND SANDY— CONCLUDING RE- 
MARKS. 

The plant-covering of the earth is very properly called 
the Vegetable Kingdom. It is indeed a state in the king- 
dom of ISTature, which, like the state under the government 
of man, is divided into communities of the greatest differ- 
ence and variety. The orders of plants in the natural 
system of botany, are a rough draught or attempted sketch 
of these communities, and among them the woods take the 
first rank. The magnitude of trees, and the extent which 
they cover wdien they form forests, makes them quite a 
prominent feature in the landsca]3e ; and they are quite as 
important as their conspicuous appearance w^ould seem to 
intimate. The w^oods are indeed the supreme rulers of the 
plant- world, and the life of the other plants ; and the pros- 
perity of man himself is, as we shall now proceed to prove, 
most intimately connected with their existence. 

The woods show us, in the clearest and most direct 
manner, that the earth would he perfectly uninhabitable 
if plants did not grow together in communities. Without 
these natural associations, their life, as individuals, would 

/ 



■OSE or WOODS IN THE ECONOMY OF NATURE. 177 

be ill the highest degree endangered. United together, 
they mutually shelter each other on all sides against storms 
and the drying effect of the sun's rays. This reciprocity 
of action is highly interesting. Thus, herbaceous plants 
and grasses envelope the earth with a protective covering. 
They allow the sunbeams access to the young seedlings, 
and also give them a sufficient amount of sliade, so that 
the sun's rays are prevented from drying the soil, and thus 
injuring their young life. It is thus that trees grow up at 
first under the shadow of the smallest members of the 
vegetable kingdom, only to reciprocate, as they approxi- 
mate to the period of their maturity and strength, the favors 
which they received in the hour of weakness and infancy. 
Under their summits the shadowed earth retains its mois- 
ture, and the poorer plant-children of T^ature are thus fed, — 
whose tender rootlets have not the ability, like the roots of 
trees, to draw their moisture deeply out of the earth. 
Besides, a moss carpet forms on the ground in woods, at 
least in temperate and cool climates, vdiich preserves the 
soil moist much longer, or lets it slowly penetrate to the 
deeper lying basins among the hills. So also, when showers 
of rain fall on forests, the leaves of the trees catch the drops, 
break the force of their descent, and the plants thus shel- 
tered gently drink in the moisture of the storm, whilst they 
escape its violence. The moss-covering, too, retains the 
moisture long after the storm has passed and sun-smiles 
brighten the earth, whilst the shadow of the trees prevents 
its evaporation. 

It follows that a wooded soil is favorable to the production 
of springs; also, that the continued existence of moisture 
in woods, and the constant evaporation from them, will pro- 
duce a cooler atmosphere, and therefore a lower degree of 
temperature in a country where they abound. It is not 
difficult to make this intelligible to the reader. The ocean, 
winds, and woods, may be regarded as the several parts of 
a grand distillatory apparatus. The sea is the boiler in 
which vapor is raised by the solar heat, the winds are the 
guiding tubes which carry the vapor with them to the 

13 



178 THE USE OF WOODS 

forests, where a lower temperature prevails. This naturally 
condenses the vapor, and showers of rain are thus distilled 
from the cloud-masses, which float in the atmosphere, by 
the woods beneath them. The grateful moisture descends 
on the thirsty landscape, replenishing its numerous springs. 
The little streamlets which issue from them continue to 
flow, and a confluence of their waters forms brooks and 
rivers, the natural arteries of a country, and the first natural 
means of intercourse and commerce possessed by a people 
in an early stage of civilization. 

The Turks, although only a semi-civilized people, seem 
to be aware of the cooling influences which forests exercise 
on the spot where they are located. There is, to day, in 
the neighborhood of Constantinople, a splendid woods of 
the finest beech and oak, which is protected by law, because 
it feeds a spring, the water of which supplies the whole 
city. It is conducted there by an aqueduct. 

The history of any nation traced back to its origin, will 
attest that springs and rivers have ever been an inducement 
for man to forsake his roving habits and commence a regu- 
lar life. Examine the map of any part of the earth where 
man is settled and civilized, and you will find that its most 
important cities and towns are located near its rivers. 
Springs and rivers will ever be to man a source of wealth 
and power. His condition, centuries ago, when he was 
without the experience and knowledge of ISTature which he 
has now acquired, was such as to make him gladly avail 
himself of these great natural aids. Their waters supplied 
him with fish, and their banks with herbage for his ani- 
mals ; they facilitated commercial transactions, to which he 
appears to have a natural tendency, and they furnished 
him with a natural mechanical power for driving his earlier 
eflbrts at machinery. Science has now given him the 
steam-engine ; how great an advance on his rude water- 
mills ! Ko wonder that springs and rivers were adored, 
and that they were supposed to be frequented by Nymphs, 
who protected and presided over them. These beautiful 
myths show how their value was appreciated. 



IN THE ECONOMY OF NATURE. 179 

When a country is deprived of its forests, the springs 
and rivulets are exhausted, and the climate is rendered 
warmer and drier. This explains the reason why the 
climate of ancient England and Germany, at the time of 
the Roman Emperor Caesar, resembled that which Sweden 
now possesses. The forests were then extensive, and the 
woodcock, stag, wolf, bear, and wild boar, made them a 
home, as now we find them in the woods of Sweden. . So 
also, the climate of Greece, in Homer's time, was like that 
of modern Germany, which now produces the orange and 
the grape. 

The industry of England has removed its native forests, 
and its meadows are the richest and most luxuriant in 
Europe ; but it must be borne in mind that, in this instance, 
the climate is insular, and therefore the clearing has been 
effected without any injurious consequences. It is the same 
with countries about the Korth Sea and the Baltic. Where, 
as here, there is a temperate zone and an incessant supply 
of moisture from the neighboring seas, the woods are of 
less consequence, in fact it is far better to cut them down; 
for they make the climate too moist and cold, and prevent 
the successful cultivation of tho'soil. The present agricul- 
tural condition of Finland, in Northern Russia, establishes 
this fact ; for the removal of its woods has dried up its 
swamps and forwarded cultivation, whilst it has rendered 
the climate milder and more habitable. So in laying the 
railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, the country was 
found to be unhealthy because too thickly wooded. Its 
swampy condition and the heat of the climate caused it to 
reek with malaria and to abound with noxious reptiles and 
venomous insects, whilst hundreds of workmen employed 
on the road died of yellow fever, A place was selected for 
a burial-ground soon after the work was commenced. It 
is now called Hope Cemetery. It is surrounded by dense 
foliage on every side, marked by the mourning plumes of 
the cocoa-nut and the palm. Here those who fell victims 
to the unhealthiness of the climate whilst constructing the 
road, were buried by their heavy-hearted comrades. It 



180 THE USE OF WOODS 

follows, from these facts, tliat a too great expansion of 
woods, as well as their removal, has its limits. The geo- 
graphical position of Panama, lying in the neighborhood 
of two oceans, shows that good effects will result from the 
clearing of its dense sun-excluding forests and the thorough 
cultivation of its soil ; for its marshes and malaria will dis- 
appear and its climate improve. 

But where the country is not situated near seas or oceans, 
and the climate is continental, then man must be careful, in 
cutting down the woods, not to transgress the limits which 
^JTature has prescribed. Where there are mountains, the 
woods must be allowed to stand, for they cannot be 
removed without the most pernicious consequences. 

The relative dependency subsisting amongst the different 
plants of a landscape, and their relation to the soil, can only 
be understood by a reference to first principles. A wood, 
through the roots of its trees, as well as by its thick moss 
or grass covering, binds together the soil on the declivities 
of the mountains, and thus in the most natural and simple 
manner strengthens them. If we take the wood away, the 
springs are dried up, and the moss or grass covering dis- 
appears. The power of the rain, no longer broken by 
millions of leaves and by the grassy mantle, comes down 
in unrestrained violence, and the loose soil torn from the 
mountain side is carried down into the subjacent valleys. 
Here it settles as sand and mud, which fills up the brooks 
and rivers, and renders their waters turbid, so that they 
overflow their banks and inundate the plains. This sand 
and mud is left on the grass-covering of the plains when 
the storm subsides, and the waters return to their accus- 
tomed channels. But every farmer knows that crops of 
hay raised on meadows frequently inundated, are worth- 
less as food for cattle. At length, in the course of years, 
these swampy pastures become overspread with sand; the 
former riches and prosperity of the inhabitants slowly dis- 
appear, and the once happy valley becomes uninhabitable. 

But this is not all. The whole landscape gradually 
changes, an entirely new plant-covering is produced, and. 



IN THE ECONOMY OF NATURE. 181 

in warmer climates, poisonous gases are developed from 
the swamps, as in those of Panama and in the Pontine 
marshes of Italy. It is thus that mischief done to the 
woods on mountains, is a bequest of destruction to coming 
generations. 

N^o country in the world was formerly more healthy or 
more richl^^ cultivated than Italy, once the "garden of 
Europe," now only an extensive morass. Where at one 
time the richest life prevailed, gloomy Death threatens to 
extinguish its fresh torch. He is aided by malaria, a 
disease whose existence is to be attributed wholly to the 
unhealthy decomposition of animal and vegetable matter 
in the stagnant marshes so abundant in the country. The 
poisonous effluvia spreads slowly among the few inhabi- 
tants whom iron necessity alone compels to remain. Ague, 
liver and hypochondriacal affections, are in its train. Pale 
and yellow complexions, with weak eyes, a swollen abdo- 
men, and a wearisome gait, the accompaniments of these 
diseases, are everywhere to be seen among the poor inhabi- 
tants. Behind them lurks a malignant fever, which carries 
ofl* the greater portion of them prematurely. "What has 
made this once prosperous, healthy, and populous country, 
so poor, diseased, and deserted ? The w^oods have been 
removed from its mountains ! Look at the map, and you 
will see that these run through the central and northwestern 
portions of the Italian peninsula. The Appenines are at 
present almost entirely denuded of the noble forests which 
once flanked and protected their sides, and all travellers 
agree that there is now no country so sorrowful as that 
which is included in what is called the States of the Church, 
and which lies along the A23penine chain, between Genoa 
and Naples. Unhappy Italy, thy serene and sunny skies 
are now darkened by storms, but free nations are with thee 
in their sympathies, and a free press whose influences are 
already visible in all the movements of thy enemies ! For 
why that concealed and stealthy step ? Is it not because 
despotism fears this fearful weapon, and would avoid its 
eflects, well knowing that it is quite as sure in its aim as 



182 THE USE OF WOODS 

rifled cannon, while it possesses a far longer range ? Is 
there any painting or sculpture in the world which rivals 
that of Italy ? "What music is so sweet as the Italian song ? 
It has now lost its softness, its gentle, mournful cadence ; 
its tones are spirit-inspiring and martial. Surely hrighter 
and better days are in store for Italy. May we live to see 
this interesting people, so long the victims of religious 
and political despotism, free from their enemies and self- 
governed. " For a nation to he free, it is sufficient that she 
wills it." 

Leaving Italy for Germany, we find even this country, 
which has produced so many reformers and philosophers, 
is not exempt from the terrible consequences of the re- 
moval of its mountain forests. A journey amongst the 
forests of Thuringia and the Hartz Mountains furnishes 
innumerable vouchers of this fact. 

Woods are also useful along the sea-shore, where the 
coasts are low and sandy, as their roots bind together the 
loose sand, and prevent its being drifted inland by the sea- 
breezes. One or two examples will show this in a striking 
light. 

The sea-sand having overflowed the country situated in 
the neighborhood of the Gulf of Gascogne, on the western 
coast of France, and threatened to make it valueless and 
uninhabitable ; Bremontier, a resident of the province, 
succeeded, in opposing an efiectual barrier to its further 
progress by planting a wood. He first of all planted the 
sand-loving Broom-Rush {Sarothamnus scoparius), and pro- 
duced in its shade young Pine-trees, and so brought the 
overflow of the sea-sand to a stand still. 

By reference to the map of Prussia, it will be seen that 
there is situated in eastern Prussia, between latitude 54° 
15' and 54° 45' North, and longitude 19° 15' and 20° 25' 
East, an extensive lagoon, called the FriscJie-Haff, or Fresh 
Gulf, which is separated from the Baltic by the Frische- 
Nehrung, or Fresh Beach, a tongue of land thirty-eight 
miles in length by one in breadth, the northeast extremity 
of which communicates with the Baltic by a channel half 



IN THE ECONOMY OF NATURE. 183 

a mile across. The low shores along this line of coast are 
washed by the waters of the Gulf of Dantzig, and in the 
middle ages its Dunes, or hills of blown sand, which streteli 
almost from Dantzig to Pillan, were covered with a thick 
pine forest and an undergrowth of heath. 

" King Frederick William, of Prussia, wanted money. 
One of his noblemen, wishing to secure his favor, promised 
to procure it him without loan or tax, if he would permit 
these forests to be removed. The King not only allowed 
the forests in Prussia to be cleared, which, at that time, 
were certainly of little value, but he also permitted the 
whole of the woods on the Frisclie-Nehrung to be felled, 
so far as they were Prussian. The financial operation was 
perfectly prosperous ; the King had money. But in the 
elementary operations which followed therefrom, the State 
received such an injury that its effects remain even to this 
day. The sea- winds can now sweep unimpeded over the 
denuded hills, the Frkche-Haff is already half filled with 
sand, — its depth being now in no place more than twelve 
feet, — and sedges grow for some distance in its shallowing 
waters, threatening to convert it into a monstrous swamp; 
the anchorage extending between Elbing, the sea, and 
Konigsberg is endangered, and the fishing in the Haff 
injured. In vain have all possible eflbrts been made, 
through sand-heaps and pastures of coarse sea-grass, to 
cover again these hills with matted roots. The wind 
mocks at every exertion. The operation of the Prussian 
nobleman brought the King two hundred thousand thalers ; 
now the people would give millions if they had the woods 
back again."* 

The woods, in their united might, are truly a natural 
fascine or fortification, which serves to withstand the per- 
petual encroachments of the sand-hills on low, exposed 
shores ; growmg on the side of the mountains, they stay 
the further progress of glaciers, and protect the inhabitants 
of the valleys against the avalanche or mountain snow-ball, 

* Das Bucli der pflanzenwelt, von Dr. Karl Mailer, Leipzig, 1857. 



184 DEATH OF THE TREE FOUNI>ED Olf 

which loosening on the loftj Alpine summit, comes thun- 
dering with gradually accumulating power down the 
mountain-side, and spends its fury on the crashing but 
conquering forests of hardy Coniferce. 

In America v/e are in danger of losing sight of the utility 
of the woods. We want the land which they cover for 
agricultural purposes, we look on them as an incumbrance 
on the soil, and their cutting down is a mere question of 
cents and dollars. "Witness the disgraceful vandalism which 
felled the noble Sequoias of California. Hence, the woods, 
are disappearing on all sides, and thisy too, on the most 
formidable scale. 

But it is plain that other considerations ought to enter 
into our calculations as to the removal of a woods, besides 
its mere value as timber. If we remove trees from the 
mountain-side, from a low sandy coast, or from an inland 
district only scantily supplied with water, there is no end 
to the mischievous consequences which will ensue. By 
such ignorant work as this, the equilibrium in the House- 
hold of N"ature is fearfully disturbed, and her wise and 
beneficent arrangements for our own good are completely 
frustrated. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE DEATH OF THE TREE IS FOUNDED ON AN INNER LAW OF ITS 
ORGANISM, AND IS NOT THE RESULT OF ACCIDENTAL CAUSES. 

We have, in the preceding chapters, traced the develop- 
ment of the tree, from the first appearance of life in the 
germinating seed, till the period when it arrives at an 
adult state, so as to be capable of fiowering and reproduc- 
tion. But this history would be incomplete if we did not 
consider trees in the decline of life, and review those 
causes which produce their old age, decay, and the ulti- 
mate dissolution of the several parts of their fabric. 



AN INNER LAW OF ITS ORGANISM. 185 

The individual existence of a plant usually terminates 
with the formation of its flowers and seed. This law ap- 
plies at least to annuals and biennials. In herbaceous 
perennials and shrubs, on the contrary, those branches 
only die which terminate in flowers, or in an inflorescence. < 
With trees, at length, death extends not to the whole 
flowering axis, but only to its upper part, which dies down 
to the origin of the last side-shoots. And the reason is 
plain : the mother-shoot is nourished and its life secured 
by the daughter-shoots to which it gives birth. If the 
reader also take the fact into consideration, that of the 
numerous axes of a tree, only a small number, in pro- 
portion to the others, terminate in flowers, he will clearly 
perceive that the tree has, despite the formation of its 
flowers, ample means of an independent continuance of its 
growth and life. 

But, we see that, notwithstanding the numerous perma- 
nently vegetative branches which the tree possesses, as a 
preservative against the exhausting influences of its flowers, 
or reproductive organs, yet nevertheless, it dies sooner or 
later ; and this question arises for consideration : Is the 
death of the tree brought about in accordance with a regu- 
lar law to which its organism is subjected? or does it pos- 
sess a natural tendency to an unlimited duration of life, 
which is only brought to an end, accidentally, through 
storms and other hurtful outward influences ? The former 
appears to me to be the correct view, and I am sustained 
in this opinion by linger* and Mohl,t both eminent phy- 
siologists. 

"We have seen that every part of the tree is a representa- 
tive of a certain stage of development through which the 
tree has passed, whether it be leaf, shoot, or branch. But 
each of these parts passes through certain regular stages 
of infancy, maturity, decay, and death. 

Now the growth of all the leaf-forms temporarily put 
forth by the tree, as well as the shoots and branches which 

* Grundz. d. Anat. u. Phy. S. 131. 
t Vegetabilische Zelle, S. Gj. 



186 DEATH OF THE TREE FOUNDED ON 

remain permanently connected with its structure is accele- 
rated during the earlier part of their life, and retarded as 
they arrive at maturity and towards its close. Thus the 
growths made yearly are accelerated during the early part 
of the vegetative season, when the conditions are the most 
favorable, and gradually retarded as the se'ason advances ; 
till, finally, the growths cease altogether, and the tree con- 
tinues in a state of passive vitality through the winter 
months, being in precisely the same condition as a seed 
before it germinates. "With the return of Spring and warm 
weather, the vitality of the seed and tree again becomes 
active ; the former germinates, and the latter puts forth 
new leaves and shoots, and is again covered with its usual 
exuberance of foliage. This we have called, in Chapter 
VI, "the annual wave." 

But there is also a " grand life-wave." For these yearly 
growths themselves, I mean those made by the main stem 
and branches of the tree, are subject to the same law of 
fluctuation. At first we have powerful year's growths, a 
rapid increase of shoots and broad wood-rings, until the 
tree gains its maximum height and spread ; then follow^s 
a remission of growth, the year's shoots become always 
shorter and more circumscribed, the increase of shoots 
disappears, and the year's ring, or growth in thickness, 
becomes smaller and smaller. 

In the gradual expiration of growth at the extremities of 
the branches, when the tree has attained its greatest alti- 
tude and passed the period of its prime, the following 
stages of remission may be distinctly observed : 1. A little 
annular development, with some branching, yet so that the 
lateral shoots appear as clusters of leaves, no internodes 
being formed between them. 2. Only single shoots, a 
little developed, with here and there a bud formed. 3. 
Lengthening of the annular growths or shoots only 
through a bud-trace, with the formation of one or two 
leaves each year: no side productions whatever, and a 
vermicular curving of the branches, yet with powerful 
terminal buds. 4. The terminal bud pines, gradually 



AN INNER LA^y OF ITS ORGANISM. 187 

loses the power of unfolding itself, and finally dies. With 
the death of the terminal bud, and the cessation of the 
formation of any more leaves, the further growth of the 
branch is necessarily completely arrested. 

The same remission of growth shows itself in the de- 
velopment of the branches, whose growth is gradually 
retarded from one generation to another. The power of 
any branch to give forth branchlets is not indefinite, but 
has its appointed limits. I^ew shoots are annually put 
forth by the terminal and lateral buds of the branches, 
until the vegetative powers of the branch are completely 
exhausted. That, in each succeeding generation of shoots, 
these powers are more and more enfeebled, is evident if we 
cast only a momentary glance at the branch and its branch- 
lets. We see that the branchlets become gradually smaller 
and finer in proportion as their connection with the parent 
branch is more remote, until finally the leaves which they 
put forth are too enfeebled in their vitality to produce 
buds, their axils remaining unfruitful, and all further ra- 
mification is thus necessarily arrested. 

It is the nature of all living organisms, whether animal 
or vegetable, to be running through one perpetually recur- 
ring cycle of the same life-changes, of infancy, maturity, 
decay, and dissolution. The compound plant called a tree, 
is no exception to this universal law of Nature. We have 
seen that, in the earlier portions of its life, it is represented 
by each of its parts. These parts do not all die at the 
same time, and their individuality is strikingly indicated 
by their difierent periods of life. Thus, the cells of the 
wood and bark, together with the diflTerent varieties of leaf- 
forms, called by botanists bud-scales, stipules, bracts, se- 
pals, petals, stamens, and pistils, have all a life peculiar to 
themselves. The bud-scales have arrived at the close of 
life when the green leaves of the stem are in their infancy, 
and in spring make their appearance, and throw oft' their 
winter envelopes; and the petals and stamens die when the 
pistils begin to mature. Even the vitality of the walls of 
f the ovary, or seed-vessel itself, is exhausted in the forma- 



188 DEATH OF THE TREE FOUNDED ON 

tion of the seed, and dies after nourisliing into life the 
embryo plant which is contained within its folds. 

'Not only the leaves, but the shoots, branches, and 
branchlets, arrive at their maximum development, and 
then manifest all the. symptoms of a gradually expiring 
vitality ; and this, too, at different periods of time. It is 
not always that leaves form buds, or buds become mother- 
sJioots or branches. The leaves situated towards the upper 
part of the shoot usually form the finest buds ; and from 
these shoots proceed, which develops other shoots, at their 
sides and summits, and thus become mother-shoots or 
branches; and these branches develope another genera- 
tion of shoots or branchlets ; and so on, until the vital 
powers of the branch are exhausted, which happens some- 
times in the second, third, and occasionally in the fourth 
generation. But the buds produced by the under leaves 
either form rudimentary shoots, or mere clusters of leaves ; 
or, if the leaves should have a sufiicieucy of vital power 
to form internodes, and thus become separated from each 
other, yet the buds produced by them remain inactive, 
and the shoots thus formed never become mother-shoots, 
but their term of life speedily draws to its close. Every 
year may be perceived, especially on the under part of the 
stem and branches of trees, these primary branches thus 
gradually expiring, or absolutely dead. They are quite as 
easily detached from the stem as an ordinary leaf, and are 
generally removed by the wind. 

And the fate which thus overtakes the individual parts 
of the tree, or the tree in the lower stages of its develop- 
ment, will finally overtake the tree itself, when fully deve- 
loped ; for the same law which gives form to the tree and 
its several parts, the law of the decrease of growth in the 
upper parts of the main stem or axis, as also in the suc- 
cessive generations of branches, is that which must finally 
set bounds to the existence of the tree itself. 

An animal may continue to live after it ceases to grow, 
but with the tree it is otherwise ; for the tree continues to 
grow as long as it lives, and when it ceases to grow in any 



AN INNER LAW OF ITS ORGANISM. 189 

of its parts, the life of those parts must inevitably and 
necessarily terminate. This gradually expiring growth at 
its extremities is, therefore, significant of the fact that the 
tree has passed its prime, and that its life is gradually 
drawing to its close. The death of the tree, therefore, 
takes place from within to without, or from its centre to 
its circumference, and from above to below ; or it dies 
downwardly, from the extremities of its branches to its 
roots. 

Schleiden, Gray, De Candolle, and others, have indeed 
advanced the doctrine that the tree can only perish 
through storms or other mechanical injuries, and that 
there is nothing in its organization to intimate that it 
may not continue to vegetate for an indefinite period of 
time. But, although we freely admit that it is difficult 
to point out clearly the several stages of vegetative in- 
activity, till the life and growth of the whole tree forever 
ceases, and that in most cases the death of the tree is 
brought about by violent interruptions to the natural 
life-processes, or a want of those conditions which are 
necessary to their continuance, yet we do not altogether 
agree with the views of these distinguished physiologists, 
for the reason we have already assigned. 

The growth of the tree in the air, and that of the coral- 
reef in the ocean, is somewhat analogous. The first is 
built up by a community of plants, the last by a society 
of animals ; leaves are the architects in the former, and 
polypi in the latter instance. Both are equally substan- 
tial and enduring monuments of the skill of architects 
alike perishable and insignificant, capable of withstand- 
ing the storms of the elements from which they draw 
their life, and which thus rage for hundreds and thou- 
sands of years harmlessly around them. The dead indi- 
viduals of the coral-reef serve as a firm foundation for 
succeeding generations of workmen or polypi, who con- 
tinue their labors at the same structure. So is it with the 
tree. What is the dead, fissured bark on the outside of 
yonder old tree-stem, and the dead wood in its inside, but 



190 THE DEATH OF THE TREE. 

matter which Avas formed by the labors of generations of 
shoots and leaves which have preceded the present gene- 
ration, which still continues to cover its venerable stem 
and branches Avith the renew^ed verdure and beauty of the 
spring-time of its life ? 

'^Reader, if you wish for peace and contentment of mind, 
study Nature. You will be brought into communion with 
the infinite and eternal. You will become temperate in 
your desires. You will love truth and righteousness. 
The contemplation of this majestic system of continuous 
and eternal change will give loftiness to your thoughts ; 
free your mind from a groveling and ignorant supersti- 
tion ; give you just, confiding, worthy views of your 
Creator, and enable you to march through life with a 
firm, with a manly step. This world is full of beauty 
\little understood or appreciated. An overflowing good- 
ness has covered the earth with flowers and glorious 
forest trees, yet how few, comparatively speaking, care to 
know anything about them. "We invite you to this grand 
and ancient library ; to the study of these volumes over- 
flowing with wisdom and instruction. It is not the mere 
study of Nature, but the impressive lessons which she 
teaches. Thoughts of infinitude and eternity come to 
me from the distant stars, and from the forms of vanished 
life laid up in the rocks, reminding me that my own life 
is fleeting and evanescent, as the vapor of morning. The 
lofty tree, with its w^ealth of branches and foliage, perishes 
alike with one of the lowly undistinguished blades of 
grass which it overshadow^s ; so none are so high or well- 
known but they shall, ere long, lie low and be forgotten. 
And herein is seen the wisdom and equity of the arrange- 
ments of Nature, that all must submit to the same great 
laws of decay and dissolution. She shows, in this re- 
spect, no partiality. Superior talent, energy, or social 
position, tnay for awhile elevate some fragments of hu- 
manity above their fellows, but all are in the end reduced 
to the same level. 



